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Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - May 8 to May 12, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ May 12 Messages \/ ("Dave's response: The "freeze" could be the problem of your local cable company and not the network. It could be that your cable TV firm's MASN receiver has gone into glitch mode. When a digital receiver stops receiving a signal it will either go to black screen or freeze on the last picture (or some digitized variation thereof) it received") If it is the fault of my cable provider (Comcast Montgomery County) it is now 1 hour and 50 minutes into the game which is in the sixth inning and I have had a beer commercial frozen on my screen since 7pm. (5/12/07) Dave's response: Hey, don't knock frozen beer until you've tried it..... free FM nyc fires JV ELVIS www.forbes.com (5/12/07) Dave - You ask whether the Cerphe story is "journalistic payola." Here's your answer: No. Do you honestly think Marc Fisher was sitting around waiting for an assignment until an editor walked up and said, "Hey, 94.7 just took out a banner ad - let's do a profile!" I'm not sure what your beef is with the Post these days. As someone who works at another publication, I have plenty of beefs with the Post. But this is getting pretty juvenile, Dave, and it's starting to undercut your credibility. I stop by all the time for radio and TV news, and I've donated in the past, but if you're going to keep up some strange crusade about the Post. well. (5/12/07) Dave's response: I do deeply apologize for questioning the wisdom of the Washington Post. I know it's just so unfair of this here little independent site to question the integrity of a local media conglomerate that's got its tentacles into just about every local media pie - the Express, the Gazette, WaPo Radio, shows on CSN, cable news, real estate guides, other websites, magazines, promotional "Points" deals with dozens of local companies, etc. But seriously folks. Doesn't it appear just a teenie weenie bit odd for a profile of a Globe radio personality to appear directly below an ad for the station? Huh? It sure makes it appear to be an editorial favor for advertising with the paper's website. Oh, I've generally found that most people who say they'll "never again" support DCRTV because of something I've said have never made a donation in the first place. If you're such a veteran reader of this site, you'd know that I pretty much slam EVERYTHING at one time or another..... “Some years ago WAVA applied for a big increase in power using WFAX's tower. It was "dismissed" by the FCC. I don't know why.” According to the FCC Database, “Dismissed 2/28/2006 via Public Notice only (no letter sent), per the applicant's 2/24/2006 request.” (5/12/07) The only thing I know about Cerphe is what I learned from DCRTV. I have never heard him and know nothing about him. Apparently, he does not drive because a number of people have stated that he always hitches rides from others.OK, he may be very good. However, the only thing I can relate to on Washington radio is Harden and Weaver, Johnny Holiday, Trumble and Core. (Spelling????) Bill Mayhew and a few I did hear on the old WRC. Like Bill Walton. I first heard Bill Walton on WCBM. I guess I am getting old but I sure do miss these guys. The only thing I know about WHFS is that back in 1971, I had occasion to go into a high rise building on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda and remember seeing the tower on the roof and their address on a board inside the building. I guess I will never know what I missed. As to Hole Foods, I saw a news item several months ago on the local news. I have never actually seen a market. From what I can gather, people like me on a pension shouldn't be shopping there. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (5/12/07) Dave's response: I think it's Weasel who doesn't drive. I have a friend who says he's seen Cerphe's car at Reston's South Lakes Village Center Sunoco (formerly Mobil) service station..... Do you supposed that anyone at MASN realizes that for thirty minutes a beer commercial has been frozen on the screen instead of the baseball game? Does anyone actually work there? Would it be impossible to run a crawl across the bottom the screen saying that they were having technical problems? What a sorry excuse for a network. (5/12/07) Dave's response: The "freeze" could be the problem of your local cable company and not the network. It could be that your cable TV firm's MASN receiver has gone into glitch mode. When a digital receiver stops receiving a signal it will either go to black screen or freeze on the last picture (or some digitized variation thereof) it received..... It was refreshing to see DC Post write an article about a true DC icon - Cerphe. Over the years he has always entertained, enlightened and engaged. No other DJ in DC answers thier calls and actually PLAYS them as well as Cerphe does. I've met him a couple of times and he is equally friendly in person! He is wonderful with listeners; men, women and children alike. I've seen him be very patient with drunks and simply dismiss advances from women other then his wife I would guess. It was great to see him take the promotional guy under his wing and teach him the in's and out's of radio at promotional events - they seem to gel and actually looked like they were having fun at the events (I've seen Flounder at events where it looked like he would rather be poked in theye with a sharp stick)... Congrads Cerphe - you deserve every single compliment tossed your way! (It was great seeing you at the Motorcycle event by the way ... though whatever happened to your sidekick? Haven't seen him around lately.) Kristin (5/12/07) Dave's response: I've got a great idea for 94.7's HD2 channel - "Cerphe's Up." Rock programmed entirely by Cerphe..... Back in its "All News, All The Time" days, WAVA's studios were "high atop the capitol" in a skyrise building on Roslyn's N. Moore Street. In 1974, I toiled daily on the building's fifth floor in a non-broadcast job, so I knew from reading the directory in the lobby that the station's penthouse quarters also housed the "Embassy of Outer Baldonia". One fine day, I happened to share an elevator ride with WAVA's big enchilada, Arthur W. Arundel. As I was a cocky young lad of 22, I boldly inquired, "How are things in Outer Baldonia?." Thirty-three years later, I can still remember Arundel's icy, silent stare as if that incident had happened yesterday. Just now, when I googled "Outer Baldonia", I was surprised to see the following information among the results. (Does anybody know if the two Arundels were related?): "Canadian fisherman Russell Arundel declared a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia an independent country in 1949, naming himself Prince of Princes of the Principality of Outer Baldonia. Arundel wrote a bill of rights that applied only to fisherman, including the freedom from 'nagging and interruptions' and the right 'to lie and be believed'. So all hail Outer Baldonia, the only nation in the world where lying is protected by a bill of rights. In all other countries, lying is protected by the people in power." (5/12/07) 2007 may go down as the year of celebrity rehab and forced apologies for dumb remarks puked onto the American airwaves, as people die in Iraq for no good reason. Ya think those pesky WMD's will show up eventually, maybe in a cave? JOHN IN STAFFORD (5/12/07) Re: "What will WAVA-AM do? Probably piggyback off of WFAX's tower." Some years ago WAVA applied for a big increase in power using WFAX's tower. It was "dismissed" by the FCC. I don't know why. (5/12/07) RE: [ " I wonder what WAVA-AM is going to do?... Dave's response: I'm sure that God will figure something out.../1. "The public" airways are now "the private" airways. The FCC is now in a "for profit" mode selling off spectrum to the highest bidder." ].... God, being the FCC, they'll just be allowed to have a pretend tower for the next decade and pretend they serve the public. Isn't that what most all non-50kw AM stations do these days anyway? The FCC should rename the STA (Special Temporary Authority) permit, as PTA (Permanent Transmission Authority) and give out fancy Radio Shack antennas attached to porta-potties to each and every applicant. At least those stations could serve some purpose then. (5/12/07) What will WAVA-AM do? Probably piggyback off of WFAX's tower. (5/12/07) I received channel 3 from Lafayette, LA. Oprah was on at 5pm. (5/12/07) Pointless to ask, I know, but I have to ask it so I can stop thinking it: Why, why, WHY do MPT and WETA have exactly the same shows on Saturday nights that they've had without ceasing for 25 years? What did they do, sign perpetual must-carry contracts? I love British comedy, but good grief already--if someone would get the dead wood out of management at both companies, it would be like having new stations in town. (5/12/07) Dave's response: 26 has been scaling back its Saturday evening Britfest. It's only on for an hour at 7 PM, with movies starting at 8 PM..... hideout does another week in nyc www.hideoutheretics.net... This has been confirmed by Jefe. (5/12/07) There is no tower on Glebe Road. The tower being referred to is at Lee Hwy and George Mason. That tower held WAVA FM, WBIG FM AND WABS AM. That tower is coming down. WBIG moved in with WMZQ, farther up Lee Hwy. WAVA moved in with WETA, 3 blocks down George Mason. WABS moved to the "AT&T" neighboring self supporter, along with W06CJ-TV and cellular folks. WABS is using the old de-tuning skirt already on that tower for its antenna. The AT&T tower is staying put. The next event will be the demo of the AT&T building, 2.5 stories, quite a structure inside, but first Verizon has to moved their demarc out of the building,,,which they somehow did not realize was in the basement. OOOPPPSSS!!! Expect to see this all happen within 60 days max. (5/12/07) Dave's response: Back when WAVA was doing its various rock and pop formats in the 1980s, with Don and Mike doing mornings, wasn't its studio in that vicinity of Arlington? DCRTV hears that it's now the Arlington offices of the Whitman Walker Clinic..... When did 980 sports radio start having movie reviews?..And why?? (5/12/07) Dave's response: It's their new "ITKCDIWCT" policy - "If Tony Kornheiser Can Do It We Can Too"..... The tower being torn down is at Lee Hwy and George Mason, there are two there, one is a smaller tower, and the taller guyed tower is the one coming down. The taller self supporting tower about a mile south and slightly east (off George Mason) is the WETA tower which according to the FCC holds a new master antenna for WETA/WGTS/WAVA, it is not being torn down. I wonder what WAVA-AM is going to do? (5/12/07) Dave's response: I'm sure that God will figure something out..... Seems more and more too me that this site is one big o circle jerk In the time I spent in these perts I'd say the quality of D.C. radio and TV has even gotten worse. Perhaps I was wrong to assume( )that most folks partaking in the DCRTV playground thought same. Creativity seems to be sadly lacking in most mediums these days. The media, as with most industries, has been overtaken by swinging dicks who's only thoughts linger on the dash for the cash and ,well, acting like swinging dicks. Creativity, sh9t, they wouldn't have an iota of what you speak and could care less about your opinions, so why bother. So with that, this is one half breed Hispanick who's riding off into sunset on my burro. Why even bother posting this you say, well one last circle jerk off for the road. I heard Black Sabbath while shopping this evening at just another corporate shill Hole Foods at the fair lakes And one last link www.youtube.com (5/12/07) Dave's response: $10 for a fuckin' pound of pasta salad at Hole Foods? No wonder their stock is plunging. Sheesh..... Two quick comments... 1. "The public" airways are now "the private" airways. The FCC is now in a "for profit" mode selling off spectrum to the highest bidder. 2. So channel 7 has another chopper... AGAIN??!!?? That so "been there/done that". I predict in two years they will retire their chopper (as they have done over the past several decades). Don in VA (5/12/07) Dave's response: I've said it before. The FCC, like many federal governental regulatory agencies, is merely an extention of the giant media corporations it oversees. In fact, in many ways it's more of a PR agency than the NAB is. Regulating TV violence?!? Can we say "political grandstanding." What a joke! (Dave's response: I think we should have a Broadcast Decency Panel, by which the content of all US radio and TV broadcasts (including cable and satellite) must first be approved. Let's see who could be on it - Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Mahr, The Reverend Al Sharpton, Ann Coulter, Al Franken, Jesse Jackson, Jerry Falwell, Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Rosie O'Donnell, and Tucker Carlson. Hmmm.....) I believe there are a couple of people on this list who could not be in the same room together without the aid and courage provided by cameras. Or in Limbaugh's case, Vicodin. LO (5/12/07) I thought WAVA and WBIG were on the tower at Lee Highway and George Mason Drive. The tower being torn down is a few blocks little farther south and east. Seems to me that your item on that one was that the tower had guy wires on adjoining property that has been sold, the new owners want them gone, and thus the tower is coming down. (5/12/07) FM went wild in Northern Virginia (D.C. subrbs) as well this (Friday) afternoon, 5/11. I had WITI-6, Milwaukee at 1305 EDT, KBJR-6, Duluth, MN at 1330, and UnID-6 at 1400 w/"NBC six newscenter slug in promo. Also had UnID-89.1 from 1400-1330 f/out w/what sounded like SRC Premiere Chaine w/a folk mx in FF mono (signal was full quieting much of the time) and local nx at 1430. Any idea where that one is? RXL Ford AM/FM/CD in dash (2002 Ranger pickup) w/31" whip on fender. The two positively ID'ed TV's were new catches, my first new Es TVDX in >20 years! Could this be the beginning of the sunspot cycle starting back up? One can only hope! Yhe tipoff to the Es was WTOP getting CCI...73 (5/12/07) What is up with all the E-Skip that was happening today? I was able to get Laser 101.7 and Quick Country 96-5, both from the Rochester MN area. This was around noon time on Friday. The signals were so clear that the RDS was coming though. Of course, DC and Baltimore FM stations were full of static. Did anyone else have this happen? www.radio-locator.com... www.radio-locator.com... (5/12/07) someone said, Perhaps if Rush does think Barack is “magical,” ... You libs are so predictable. It was the f'ing LA Times that called him that and he is calling them out on it. But since most of you are deranged haters of anything non liberal, you can't see beyond the haze of anger your body emits. (5/12/07) /\ May 12 Messages /\ \/ May 11 Messages \/ I don't know what is all the fuss about Rush singing "Barack the Magic Negro" everyday. I mean I personally don't give credence to a self-proclaimed drug addict who thinks it’s amusing to make up stupid songs about US elected officials. Perhaps if Rush does think Barack is “magical,” Rush is still high on the “Baby Blues.” Please, keep up the singing, Rush; we now call it "response to Michael J. Fox" effect. (5/11/07) Fez Whatley had a surgical procedure on his heart today. Ron Bennington on Friday's "Ron & Fez Show" (XM Channel 202-The Virus) told the radio audience that Fez had a heart stint put in today during a procedure to open a blockage in an artery in Fez's chest. On Wednesday's XM program, which airs on the east coast from 12-3 pm, Fez complained of having some chest and arm discomfort and Ron urged Fez to leave the program early in order to get checked out at the hospital. Unfortunately, he sent the inept show's producer "Black Earl" Douglas with Fez to the hospital. Earl left Fez's side, drawing Ronnie's ire on the air. The first EKG came back ok, but blood tests showed that there was a problem with Fez and he was admitted to the hospital Wednesday. This is the second time that Fez Whatley has had a heart stint surgical procedure. Fez had a heart attack in November 2005 and a stint was put in at that time. No word from Ron this afternoon on when Fez will return to the airwaves. Ron said that Fez would likely have to remain hospitalized through the weekend. (5/11/07) Dave's response: All our best to the great Fez..... Between noon and 3:00 p.m. today the FM dial went crazy and stations from the northern Great Lakes states, particularly Minnesota and Wisconsin, could be heard right here in the D.C. area. Here are a few that yours truly ID'd: Rhinelander, WI 91.7 WXPR... Waupaca, WI 92.7 WDUX... Watertown, SD 92.9 KSDR... Repeated mentions of the city of license; between 1:30 and 2:00 EST lots of local news and announcements, weather for South Dakota... (current temps in Rapid City, Aberdeen, Brookings, as well as normal and record highs and lows for May 11 in Watertown); then church organ music starting at 2 PM... Ashland, WI 93.3 WBSZ Mentioned nearly Duluth and Cloquet, MN... Eagle River, WI 94.5 WRJO... Duluth, MN 94.9 KQDS KQ-95, classic rock; commercial for Northstar Ford... Grand Marais, MN 95.3 WXXZ Simulcasts KQDS... Marinette, WI` 95.1 WLST The Wave... Mora, MN 95.5 KBEK Sounded like "KDK" but mentioned nearby Pine City; Minnesota Credit Union commercial... Duluth, MN 95.7 KDAL The Bridge... Blackduck, MN 98.3 WBJI Near Bimidji... Marshall, MN 99.7 KKCK... Courtesy of KOF (5/11/07) Dave's response: Wow! This is the time of the year for such stupendous FM reception..... Re: Ed Jones in Bel Air’s question….One evening we were walking past the pagoda in Patterson Park listening to Jim Tice on 92.3 WLPL-FM coming out of an announcement for the Little Flower CYO and he rolled into ‘Games’ by a group called Redeye. Shucks, that musta happened around 6:23 PM in 1971 while eating a Polock Johnny’s ‘Big John’ washed down by a Suburban Club Almond Smash. (5/11/07) re: "The public has complained and XM/O&A have apologized." Dave, the truth is (as of yet) it's been the media that's complained - there has been NO PUBLIC OUTCRY. Drudge spins it - the Daily News jumps on it - and then AP runs with it. Hopefully the apologies will prevent an organized outrage over the weekend, but as someone else pointed out elsewhere, the media is eating it's own and can't seem to get enough. THAT is as scary as any FCC crackdown. [KOP] (5/11/07) As far as I'm concerned, there is no line. Opie & Anthony cannot say anything offensive enough to hurt me. It's too bad that the federal government has another opinion on the matter of censorship. There is a line one does not cross without a penalty because the FCC can levy fines for language that the government has deemed offensive. Where is that line one must not cross hidden in the Constitution? I can't find it. JOHN IN STAFFORD (5/11/07) Hey Ed Jones: As I recall, "Games" was recorded by "Redeye". Am I right? Rusty Gibson (5/11/07) "Games People" Play was done by Joe South???? (5/11/07) Form a previous post, “It looks like those of us that have Comcast will now have to pay extra to get the NFL Network. Here is the story from Yahoo.com; news.yahoo.com” A couple of points on this, first a Supreme Court in New York State is a very low-level court, perhaps like a circuit court is most other states. (I have no idea what the highest New York State court is called, but I bet that the NFL will appeal this initial decision.) Second, if Comcast is charging 55 cent/month for each customer household and they do put the NFL Network on a sports pay-tier you can bet that non-tier subscribers will not see a 55 cent reduction in their bill. But the last sentence of the Yahoo article really revealed what Comcast wants. It says, “Comcast said it intends to move the NFL Network to a sports tier for the 2007 season, allowing customers who subscribe to view eight additional live out-of-market NFL games.” The NFL has a multi-year, exclusive agreement with DirecTV for the “Sunday Ticket” football package and the cable companies want it, too. I think that there were some negotiations within the last year or so to expand this package to cable but the NFL said no, so if the NFL won’t give it to them to sell they will try to create their own. (5/11/07) I have to agree completely with Dave's comments re: O&A. I have XM - have had it since its inception, and I listen to it all the time. I've never once listened to O&A, and that's my choice. What they said was in amazingly poor taste. However, isn't that why XM hired O&A in the first place - for "shock effect"? It's an overused cliché, but an underused action - if you don't like what you hear, change the channel! (5/11/07) Another good quote from birthday boy, Mort Sahl: “Reagan won because he ran against Jimmy Carter. If he ran unopposed he would have lost.” (5/11/07) Re *snip*I personally warned XM via this mailbag their business would be hurt excrementally if they hired these clowns. Hmmm. chalk one up for me I guess....*snip* /// Yep, chalk one up for you ! Excrementally ?? Something cool and Freudian about a complaint in which decency, grossness, potty language, and bad judgment are noted as the subject matter, and then the poster tosses in Excrementally during his/her summation. And right after "stomach churning" too. I love the cool satire and purposeful misuse of words for comic effect. Bravo! I sure will remember your warning if the XM/Sirius merger fails, now pass the toilet tissue. (5/11/07) I am not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree but if I can figure it out, the FCC has control over the content of what is broadcast because it is supposedly the "public airwaves".That means we "the public" own the airwaves and the government has a responsibility to see that nothing too offensive comes over the airways to our ears.This is the way it should be. Because the signal from space to our receiver on satellite radio is in reality still the public airwaves, shouldn't the FCC still be looking out for the public with the content of what is broadcast? I don not have satellite radio because I refuse to pay to listen to the radio. However, because the FCC has some responsibility to watch out for us, I urge everyone here to contact their congressman and demand that the FCC be given broader powers to regulate what these so called entertainers can broadcast from space. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (5/11/07) Dave's response: What Opie and Anthony said is not illegal. They do have the Constitutional freedom to say what they did. They should not be fined or thrown in jail. What they said, however, was incredibly tasteless. The public has complained and XM/O&A have apologized. And if O&A keep saying such trash, they risk losing their jobs. That's my point. We don't need the FCC to regulate radio/TV speech or program content. "Market forces" (protests, advertiser/station boycotts, even lawsuits in extreme cases) work just fine - if we give them a chance..... re: Opie, Anthony, and free speech. Free speech is for democracies. These days the USA is a democracy in name only. Just like the rest of the country, satellite radio is governed by business rules. O&A broke the business rules. That's why they're in trouble. (5/11/07) I’m all for a little crude humor, but there is a matter of good taste. I listen to O&A and find them amusing most of the time but they do need to know when they are going into the wrong territory. Say whatever you want boy’s, but how about a little self discipline next time you start down a questionable path. (5/11/07) One of the things I like about O&A is that they don't know where the line is or don't seem to care about crossing it. It's what makes the show funny and different from others. What upsets me about this current debacle is that the comments were said on their XM Radio show. There's no FCC regulation of XM so why are their comments even an issue. They don't have "sponsors" in the traditional sense and since listeners are paying to hear them on XM it's a pretty safe bet that the people listening are fans. So, who is upset by this? I'm assuming that it's just a way for the boys to make headlines. I've actually lost a bit of respect for them because the apologized... (5/11/07) To my fellow "Mailbaggers" that planned on listening to my Mother's Day Show today: Sometime within the last 24 hours, I picked up a rather nasty flu bug so consequently, I won't be on the air today. I do encourage everyone to tune in next Friday between 3 & 5. Rusty Gibson WEBR Radio/Fairfax (5/11/07) Good Friday Afternoon. Time for another trivia question. Who recorded the top 30 hit in early 1971 entitled "Games"? I told you I would go deep this time, but I bet somebody out there knows the answer. Ed Jones, Bel Air MD (5/11/07) This isn't about free speech, it is about threatening a government official with bodily harm (in a gross way at that) while O&A were laughing, and, as it appears, encouraging the thought of rape, not just on a government official, but on any woman out there. The problem for O&A is they have proven once again they have no friggin' clue where the line is, how to cut it short with guests, and they keep overshooting this fuzzy decency line by a mile. CBS Radio, I am sure, is looking hard at this bad judgment call and wondering if, in the future, O&A could make the same judgment mistake on CBS Radio, again. Was it funny? No. Was it thought provoking? No. Was it stomach churning? Yes. If this act does destroy the merger, remember, I personally warned XM via this mailbag their business would be hurt excrementally if they hired these clowns. Hmmm. chalk one up for me I guess. As for O&A's "target" of Men, 18-34, any GM would tell you you can ever get rich off that demo; beer and bars only pay so much. So if O&A "target" that specific group, they really are as stupid as they appear. (5/11/07) Opie & Anthony are a couple of douchebags. I have no idea why anyone would think they were funny or talented. Radio would be better without them. Imus is saving them a spot in the unemployment line. The Tooz (5/11/07) I actually like WMAL, and loved Mort Sahl's Sunday night talkshow when it was shown around here in the 1990's on the now long-defunct Christian Science Monitor Channel. Yes, he's a liberal, but to his immense credit he refused to drink the magical potions demanded by both the Left and Right. Besides, without Art Bell and George Nouri, how the hell else are my night terrors held in check? Genghis Cohen, sleeping like a baby (waking up every two hours screaming for breast milk) in pretty mild Eastern Prince William County. (5/11/07) RE: "I don't care if you hate Opie and Anthony with every last cell in your bodies...This is for real. This is special interest groups getting their foot in the door and opening up a Pandora's Box that could only end with us not having the right to watch what we want or listen to what we want anymore and if you want to live in that world just because you despise Opie and Anthony and are wishing for their eventual downfall, then you deserve the homogenized, cookie cutter, bullshit form of entertainment that you wind up with. Kevin in HdG, MD." HEY! KEVIN! Quick question for you and the rest of the hairless minions still supporting Ope and Ant...where were they when The Greaseman got canned? Or, better yet, what was THEIR reaction? How did they support Nino the last 10 years? Pandora's Box was opened long ago. While Grease, Hoo Hoo and Bubba the Love Sponge were scrambling against these special interest groups, your b-b-b-boys were laughing their asses off. Gregg and Acne made their careers at the expense of other radio shows. They and their listeners are hypocrites - only now that this is at their feet do they suddenly begin crying about free speech and (like anyone desperate for attention) using "Nazis" to gain empathy from people who gave up on them long ago, or never cared to begin with. In the scheme of things, as others have pointed out, this is a complete non-story and another example of your heroes trying to tie them into something bigger than themselves, but it is always refreshing to be reminded that O&A ALWAYS WHINE IN THE END! (5/11/07) If WTWP isn't on WMAL's radar screen, then who is? WTNT, WOL, Triple X? WMAL has one foot in the grave and no compelling reason to tune in. Maybe lowering their average age from 68 to 62 is what is on their radar screen. Another stupid comment from a station that continues to make stupid decisions. (5/11/07) "Any competitor, especially one on the AM dial with a talk format should be watched and respected, because they may be gaining on you." To say that WTWP is gaining on WMAL is like saying WMET is gaining on WTWP, the situation there will be even more bleak after Tony leaves next month. (5/11/07) Happy 80th B-Day, Mort Sahl. He was one liberal who DIDN'T feel unworthy of his possessions. As an employee of WRC-AM at the time, I remember that union-represented broadcast engineers would be assigned by the WRC brass to drive to Mort's house and take Mrs. Sahl's dog for a walk. (5/11/07) This is the first: I was in my car at 10:20 today, and XM broadcasted an EAS Test. When did this start? Also, who sends them the tests, does it originate from a DC station? Steve (5/11/07) It looks like those of us that have Comcast will now have to pay extra to get the NFL Network. Here is the story from Yahoo.com; news.yahoo.com. -Alex (5/11/07) Just writing in regards to O&A. I personally don't care for their show. I think it's pretty juvenile. But they are on XM, a subscription service. You don't wanna listen to it, you don't have to. If they are fired, or seen as responsible for the failure of teh XM/Sirius merger (which I think is a little extreme), then it will be a sad day for 1st Amendment supporters. It would be the same if they were on HBO or any other cable station. People pay to listen, and they get "anything goes". I listened to the tape of what was said about Sec. Rice, and I found it totally disgusting. But I will defend their right to say such things on XM, because it is a pay service. (5/11/07) Re: "The Nazis are setting their sites on satellite radio now..." It is incredible how many things the government is trying to control. They really want satellite, cable, and the Internet. While the war of aggression and neocolonialism continues, they are nibbling away at our freedoms and the Constitution. I know this is a media forum, but they are attacking our media in ways never before attempted. We can't let this continue. I'm not being paranoid, something's happening here...what a field day for the heat. Ed Graham (5/11/07) Dave's response: I think we should have a Broadcast Decency Panel, by which the content of all US radio and TV broadcasts (including cable and satellite) must first be approved. Let's see who could be on it - Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Mahr, The Reverend Al Sharpton, Ann Coulter, Al Franken, Jesse Jackson, Jerry Falwell, Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Rosie O'Donnell, and Tucker Carlson. Hmmm..... "I know there is a "we report you decide" mentality on this site, but a cursory examination of objective information would be helpful before suggesting that two guys who have an audience in the tens of thousands and have completely tanked on "free" radio could do anything other than get some cheap heat for a stunt no one cares (or heard) about." You make very good points. However, as you so aptly put it, this site is all about "we report, you decide". This site is the ultimate spin zone where rumor, gossip, unsbstantiated blogs, and spin from station management and fan sites take precedent over any kind of fact checking. Facts? This site don't need no stinkin' facts! (5/11/07) Dave's response: It's all about "news being made." Not always a pretty picture. As the Washington Post likes to say - "If you don't get it, you don't get it." You're looking at a one-man news operation that provides you with about 10-times (!) more media news on a daily basis than you'll ever find in the Washington Post. And, ah, how many reporters work for the Post? A couple hundred? DCRTV does the best it can with what it got! Don't like it? Stick to Lisa de Moraes' endlessly wordy ponderings on the cultural significance of "Idol." Whatever floats your boat..... Pot Falls has NOTHING on “Overlea High”! (5/11/07) Dave's response: When I was at Herndon High, we had outdoor "smoking lounges." Ah, the permissive 1970s..... Thought this might interest you - Internet Radio Equality Act HR 2060 thomas.loc.gov: Sponsored by Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL) currently has 63 co-sponsors www.digmedia.org (5/11/07) Saying that Post Radio is not on you radar screen is really naive. Any competitor, especially one on the AM dial with a talk format should be watched and respected, because they may be gaining on you. MAL is certainly in no position to "talk the talk and "walk the walk". They have serious problems. Ken/Bethesda (5/11/07) interesting "quote" from WMAL. From the recently released BIA report (not always exactly accurate, but always pretty close), WTWP billed $4.3 Million last year. WTWP was only on the air for part of the year. From what I have heard, they are billing MORE this year than last. It doesn't sound like the quote from your WMAL source is correct. maybe you should check your sources...or stop posting defensive and insecure comments from format competitors. It actually makes WMAL, and you, look bad. (5/11/07) I have to hand it to the O&A crowd, they can turn a teapot into a tempest. I swear, these guys missed their true calling ...Bush Public Relations would have been a far more logical career path. This Condoleeza Rice story has NO traction in the mainstream media, it's a manufactured piece of nothing that the pests and their ilk are ginning up to show (fill in the blank) relevance (?) edginess (?) a kamikaze-like desire to be fired (?). Added to this is a blog post suggesting that this "episode" could blow up the XM/SIRIUS merger. In case anyone actually took the time to I don't know, read the news, they would know that the merger, when announced, was rated (at best) as about a 60-40 chance of getting approval. Those odds lessened as Congress held several hearings and did not like what they were hearing from Mel Karmazin. Recent news reports (pre this nothing O&A story) put the odds of the merger at about 30 percent. I know there is a "we report you decide" mentality on this site, but a cursory examination of objective information would be helpful before suggesting that two guys who have an audience in the tens of thousands and have completely tanked on "free" radio could do anything other than get some cheap heat for a stunt no one cares (or heard) about. (5/11/07) Bobbie---How can you hate that Domino’s oreo commercial? I absolutely LOVE it! One of my new favorites. Always makes me smile. Ok, the pizza seems weird, but the commercial is truly a fave... (5/11/07) Listening to the XM feed of O&A this morning....Three words come to mind....DEAD MEN WALKING.......An apology right out of the gate and ZERO reference to the Rice/Bush incident after that....Lawyer mandated I am sure...Three strikes...and they're out... (5/11/07) O&A went over the line? O&A's New York ratings are in the toilet? Who could have predicted that? Oh yah, never mind. Trenton can be nice this time of year. (5/11/07) Notice that WAVA and the WBIG antenna(s) have been taken off the Glebe Road tower. Guess both are operating at their aux site(s). Any idea why an antenna change?? Thanks, Corey (5/11/07) Dave's response: I think we've heard that the land (owned by AT&T?) that the WAVA tower is on is being redeveloped and the structure is being torn down..... "WMZQ is no stranger to fire ... didn't their old studio site up near Chevy Chase circle get toasted a couple of times back in the early 90s courtesy of the restaurant downstairs?" - That actually was a liquor store downstairs. There were one or more holes in the floor, and for quite a while there were stories coming from inside about certain people in the advertising department lowering things down through the holes to retrieve bottles... (5/11/07) O/T, but inspired by MASN talk: Why are the Nationals giveaways so godawful? Why no season-long celebration of RFK's final year? "Far too few" as compared to the annual offerings of, for ex., the Mets, Phillies and Yankees. Cheap!! -MontCo (5/11/07) Dave's response: Is anyone going to listen to such an awful team on the radio? The ratings have got to be hurtin'..... Happy 80th Birthday to comedian, Mort Sahl! He did an afternoon drive talk show on WRC-AM 980 in the late 1970s. Here's one of my favorite quotes of his: “Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen.” (5/11/07) For all those wondering where Rod Daniels had been?--He had a second hip replacement surgery and WBAL-TV news did a feature of it on the news tonight (Thu). Glad that he is back. I still remember him visiting my school, Chadwick Elementary when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade and having taken the time to sign a ton of autographes pictures for the students. I still have it in one of my many memory files. -Michael Popovec (5/11/07) /\ May 11 Messages /\ \/ May 10 Messages \/ Hey I wonder what the owners of the Washington Wizards think about these comments from NBA announcers during the playoffs. On weds Charles Barkely mentioned that he is no longer allowed to use the word "Midget" due to a little persons activist group. On tues nights show they had a discussion on whether or not the host of the program was "white". Here is a transcript of what happened between Kenny Smith & Barkely after tues night/weds morning game. It has very racist stereo types. I can fed ex the entire transcript if your interested in it. I would like to know how the NBA and its sponsors feel about this. Ernie: (reading a letter) I've been wondering if EJ is black or white..... Barkely: Not only are you white: Your the whitest white..... Kenny: He's super white..... Barkely: Your super white. You are the biggest white nerd in the history of civilization...... Later on the same show. Barkely: (To Ernie) Hey dog what you laughing at? Ernie have you ever had any chitlains? You ain't blcak if you never had any chitlains..... Kenny: and grits..... Ernie: I live on grits..... Barkely: Ever have Ham hock or neck bone..... Kenny: You drink coolaid..... Later in the show. Barkely: You ever have Government cheese?..... Kenny: Hows your credit Ernie?..... Magic Johnson was there but did not join in on the remarks. (5/10/07) Dave, The full interview with Jonathan Tisch won't be up on Q&A CAFE TV until tomorrow or Saturday, but in the meantime there's a clip up on youtube in which he talks about running (or not) for NYC mayor after Bloomberg. Here's the link: www.youtube.com... Carol (5/10/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) PRODUCER/BOARD-OP - ChickChat Radio (www.chickchatradio.com) is seeking a full-time Producer/Board Op. for its nationally syndicated talk show airing live M-F from 2-4p. Qualified applicants will have 1-2 years of radio show production experience and a passion and an ability to make the show sound great utilizing creative production skills. Working knowledge of digital audio systems a real plus. Candidate must be a dependable, reliable, problem-solver who works independently and is technically efficient. Location: Middleburg, Virginia. For full job responsibilities, and to email your resume: please contact Chandler Van Voorhis – ChickChat Radio Business Manager, chandler@chickchatradio.com, 540.687.8946 (5/10/07) Dave, I read that blog article about O&A earlier and just shook my head. What I want to know is how does that blogger get off saying that this is going to blow up the merger. This seems like an attempt by someone with an agenda/blog on getting the merger killed. If you listen to the audio in its entirety it is a homeless going on and on about a number of different topics including his desire to "f*ck the shit out of" Condi Rice. Since when did non-fcc regulated bantar by someone not affiliated with either company have any bearing on a proposed merger worth billions of dollars. Is this a dream and I will wake up to the good Old USA that I have grown and loved where the 1st ammendment meant something. The government cannot base business regulatory decisions on words... What happened to us? At what point did radio become the only entertainment outlet that is looked at with so much scrutiny. Watch out Dave, the way this thing is going, radio stations will only exist to plug an iPod into their station and let it play. No Dj's no talk shows, nothing but music that is "politically correct.' YUCK... Nauseous in Silver Spring (5/10/07) O&A story about Condi Ric - IT WAS NOT A SKIT YOU MORONS. GET YOUR FACTS BEFORE YOU START COPY/PASTING OTHER PEOPLE'S GARBAGE REPORTING. (5/10/07) Does anybody else find that Domino's ad for that "Oreos mustache pizza" bizarre? That guy with that stuff on his face is absolutely creepy! Ugh! It's disgusting...both the ad and the product. -- Bobbie (5/10/07) RE: "XM Outrage: (Opie and Anthony) Joke Describes Violent Sex Assault of Condoleeza Rice." Fellow Mailbaggers, I don't care if you hate Opie and Anthony with every last cell in your bodies, this has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with that now. The Nazis are setting their sites on satellite radio now and their not even going after things that were said by the very hosts of that show. They're going after what some homeless guy was ranting about. We all have to stand up to this kind of censorship, now! This isn't about the FCC anymore or what some poor girls basketball team in Rutgers got offended by. This is for real. This is special interest groups getting their foot in the door and opening up a Pandora's Box that could only end with us not having the right to watch what we want or listen to what we want anymore and if you want to live in that world just because you despise Opie and Anthony and are wishing for their eventual downfall, then you deserve the homogenized, cookie cutter, bullshit form of entertainment that you wind up with. Kevin in HdG, MD. (5/10/07) Augenstein's WTOP website defaced www.wtopnews.com ...okay, granted it was by our own web people. (5/10/07) Dave's response: Hmmm. That looks a lot like what happened regarding Rush Limbaugh's WCBM billboard defacing. Were some WTOPers up in Baltimore recently? ("Potomac Falls High School as Pot Falls. This is what the local kids call the school because of the alleged drug abuse that goes on at the school. Nice going WAGE!!!)" Yeah, but, in the reporter's defense, anything about Pot Falls (even some official documents, flyers about games, etc) say "Pot Falls" on them, at least at Broad Run. Any updates on WRC going HD? Or, has NBC quietly ditched that plan along with WTTG? (5/10/07) Dave, I agree with you that the Washington Post coverage of radio is horrible when it exists at all. Most major newspapers in major markets have at least a weekly column on radio. Even the Washington Times does. But the Post rarely mentions local radio at all...even though its now in the business! What is really silly about this is that the Post spends lots of space EVERY DAY on television. But more Washingtonians listen to radio every day than watch t.v. What's up with that Post? Thank goodness for your site... its really the only source for what is happening in a very popular medium. A DCRTV Fan. (5/10/07) Dave's response: Awww schucks! WTMD has posted some information about the Copyright Loyalty Board ruling that would increase the fees public radio pay to stream music. wtmd.blogspot.com (5/10/07) Having been in the business for a number of years, I have seen many changes, and certainly technology has made big strides. I have wondered if it's possible (and legal) for a chain to broadcast one of their AM's programming over an FM licensed HD channel, or to "barter" out to other non-competing stations the use of an HD channel. For many years I had paid my dues at WBMD running the board for nearly every ethnic program in Baltimore. The Baltimore area to my knowledge has no stations to carry their shows. (Did WFBR 1590 go dark?) This may be a good way to eventually generate revenue, but certainly now the proliferation of HD receivers is not there. (5/10/07) Just wondering if anyone heard the dig at Don and Mike on the junkies this morning. Apprently the phones were not working at all - on open line thurday - and they said something to the effect that other they would still continue becuase of their skills - other djs wouldnt be able to and might even walk out becuase of it but they are skilled enough to keep going. Clear dig at Don there. j in fredneck (5/10/07) Dave, That Rush Limbaugh billboard was defaced possibly overnight last Friday into Saturday. I was driving down to the Power Plant Live last Saturday morning early as I was DJing and Emceeing the Fiesta 5k and Fun Run for Johns Hopkins. I rounded the bend right before the Guilford Ave exit on I-83 at about 6:05am and saw the billboard defaced then...I wish I could comment some on Baltimore radio but now that I am a member of Baltimore radio I obviously don't feel it would be right or professional to comment negatively. I will comment on the positives though...I am happy to see Ken Merson jocking on the radio once again. Congrats Ken and we sure miss hearing you here in Baltimore...I am getting my fill of oldies from www.wcbsfm.com... CBS-NY did a great job in keeping the oldies alive by streaming them on-line and putting them on WCBS-FM HD-2. I hope one day that could happen here in Baltimore like WHFS2.com, maybe they could do a WQSR2.com...I am really happy to be home and to be on the air in Charm City at Sports Talk 1570 WNST hosting 'Sports Night' from 6-8pm M-F. I hope to hear from you sports fans, 410-481-1570 or you can e-mail me michael@wnst.net . For those of you who might not be able to listen in the evening I will be filling in for Drew Forrester on Friday June 8th from 6-10am. We stream 24/7 at www.wnst.net -Michael Popovec (5/10/07) Don just admitted on the air that he and Mike were off the air yesterday because he was in criminal court dealing with someone who had made death threats against him. The case was continued until next week, and he will miss another show again to deal with it. He was not in New York discussing his radio future with CBS and or Westwood One executives, as some posters had suggested. (5/10/07) Dave's response: I just heard Don Geronimo's announcement at the start of his Thursday show. Frankly, that was news to me. Just to let all you Mailbaggers know, I'm not going to run any more postings on that particular topic out of respect for Don's privacy. If and when a court outcome occurs - and if it's part of the public record or Don announces it on his show - we will report it as a news item. Enough said on that topic. On to other things..... Vandalism, and a public official who's in favor of vandalism. If a person can be known by his enemies, the billboard incident is a positive sign for Limbaugh. They should leave it as is. (5/10/07) Why does Rupert Murdoch want the WSJ? Because it makes tons of money and the people who read the WSJ usually have tons of money to spend, or will have, which makes it attractive for advertisers willing to fork over big bucks to be seen by people who have fat wallets and portfolios. The conspiracy theorists may have other disjointed (i,e; political) ideas as to his motives, but buying a rag that is read around the world and makes boatloads of cash makes perfect sense to me. Hell, if I had the money, I'd buy the goddamned thing. JA (5/10/07) Re WMZQ being no stranger to fire: Yes, back when they were on Connecticut Avenue, WMZQ ended up broadcasting from their remote truck in their parking lot after a fire in the restaurant below their studios forced them out. And in 1991, neighborhood kids broke into the WMZQ-AM 1390 building in Falls Church and started a fire that did major damage. (5/10/07) I’ll first say that I’m not a big Russ fan. I’m not a liberal, but I think that Rush is a blowhard and I won’t listen to him. However regarding the vandalism of PRIVATE property (the WCBM billboard) I think that Robert Murrow, a spokesman for Baltimore's Department of Public Works, who admittedly is not a Limbaugh fan, who saw the vandalism as he drove to work on Thursday morning and called the Sun, saying, "It looks like they took globs of paint and threw it on his [Rush’s] face. It looks great. It did my heart good" is out of line. I’d guess that Mr. Murrow is a fine man with a Democratic persuasion, but I wonder does vandalism of PUBLIC property, which his department may be in charge of, also “does his heart good!?” I suspect not. Criminal behavior is criminal behavior and should not be praised! (5/10/07) XM Outrage: (Opie and Anthony) Joke Describes Violent Sex Assault of Condoleeza Rice - "Warning: Extremely Vulgar Language. Shock Jocks Opie and Anthony engage in discussion about forced sex with the Secretary of State. A studio guest begins describing the scenario as the hosts laugh and encourage him. Anthony talks about the horror for Rice as the guest is 'holding her down' and assaulting her." www.breitbart.tv (5/10/07) Imus, the D.C. Madam and the G.O.P. presidential candidates' debate! Paul Krassner [ bio here - www.huffingtonpost.com] explores all the aspects of "Secret Bullshit" in this recent item - www.huffingtonpost.com (5/10/07) Let me make one thing clear: at DCRTV, I am a LURKER (with an attitude). Signed Mark in Annandale (5/10/07) Hey Dave. A Rush Limbaugh billboard off I-83 in Baltimore was defaced with globs of paint this morning! There are photos and an article about it on the Baltimore Sun's website at www.baltimoresun.com. -Greg in Perry Hall (5/10/07) Dave's response: Just got the Front Page blurb up..... Funny thing about the mzq fire, when someone mentioedn the lack of commentary in the mailbag, I was on the Beltway when it happened, but was right next to MHZ's towers, which often whacks my reception, and figgered that was the issue. (5/10/07) Dave's response: I was born in NYC, a market without a major country radio station. Now you know why I don't notice when 98.7's off. I haven't listened to the frequency since WMOD went away..... The post from RMS was one of the most obnoxious posts I've ever seen. I would gather he sucks his bosses', friends, station owners ass on a daily basis. What a SNOB. Some of us that post here are far from wannabees, has beens etc. Some of us are, or were successful managers, on air personalities or sales people that love the industry and find the Mailbag a great place to converse. RMS's down his nose attitude towards the posters is a perfect example of the rot that permeates some of the industry. RMS-Definition-ANAL CAVITY. burb (5/10/07) First off, Opie & Anthony are targeting MEN 18-34 and/or MEN 18-49. If you break it down on Free-FM in New York, 6-9a, they are NOT in 18th place....they are top 5 at least. O&A had the same problem on WNEW with the numbers. People are looking at Free-FM and seeing the station sucking but thats not O&A. That HOT talk format all day does not work. What CBS should have done was keep the K-Rock format all day and just put Opie & Anthony on in the morning from the beginning. Maybe the Radio Chick in the afternoon or The Dog House. Then, you'd notice a difference in the number at 92.3 Free-FM. As far as WJFK goes.....the programming sucks. They should put O&A LIVE in the morning, Junkies middays, Don & Mike in the afternoon, then Ron & Fez. Like it used to be. Make it "Washingons Superstation" like they used to be. Give it 2 books and just watch the numbers. I don't understand why they just don't get it. Opie & Anthony are BIGGER than they say. People who say they aren't and they suck just don't get it. The local CBS stations they are on are not running the show right. WJKF is putting O&A on tape delayed middays....are you kidding me??? A fast pace drive time show on middays!! Thats why the numbers are in the tank. (5/10/07) CSN's Washington Post Live show has a daily wild card segment where viewers get to pick the discussion topic via internet voting. A few days ago, the choices were NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs and NASCAR. Hockey won by a wide margin, but unfortunately two of the three panelists that day were Cakes Auville and J.P. Flaim from the Junkies who proceeded to sabotage the segment. They did nothing but make sarcastic, disparaging remarks about the league, the Capitals and their supporters - 'the five hockey fans in DC must have voted', 'more people care about (ex-Terps QB) Sam Hollenbach's workouts at Redskins minicamp than anything involving Alex Ovechkin', etc. The third guest was Marc Sterne of Post Radio who did his part to try and keep things on topic, but the Junks would have none of it and before long the show's moderator Russ Thaler was forced to segue to the question of which local team has the best chance of taking a bite out of the Skins' dominance around here. The Junkies should never be invited back on that program, because it's clear they're only interested in doing their shtick and could care less about respecting the prearranged agenda. That may be fine on their radio show (which I don't listen to), but not when they're making guest appearances elsewhere in the media. The wild card segment provides an opportunity for non-mainstream sports topics to get some run on the show, so it's a shame that the Junkies chose to make a mockery of it. I think CSN owes the hockey fans in its viewing audience a raincheck on that one, preferably bringing on panelists who actually know something about the sport (such as Al Koken or the Post's Caps beat reporter) to break down the Sabres/Senators and Red Wings/Ducks matchups. Mike, Fairfax (5/10/07) I thought that you might find this interesting! governmentnames.blogspot.com (5/10/07) Dave's response: Several folks have sent me the same memo concerning "payola" allegations at WERQ. I did not run it on the website upon the advice of DCRTV's legal eagles..... You've been following what's happening in the news department over at WAMU, but why no mention of them scooping the Washington Post and the rest of the DC media? WAMU broke the story of the Fenty Administration's "Cut and Paste" education plan, a large chunk of which was lifted from a North Carolina school document. WAMU aired the story last Friday with Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso first denying then admitting to the "borrowing". The Post ran a brief Metro story yesterday and today has a front page story....SIX days after WAMU aired its first report. (5/10/07) Dave's response: DCRTV does not normally report about various DC media organzations scooping each other regarding non-media-related stories. However, it is a "trick" the Post uses when it gets beaten to the punch by another news organization. It waits a few days (or weeks) and then pretends that it's got an exclusive on the story..... WMZQ is no stranger to fire ... didn't their old studio site up near Chevy Chase circle get toasted a couple of times back in the early 90s courtesy of the restaurant downstairs? (5/10/07) I am amused by the complaints about seeing ads for "The God Who Wasn't There". First of all, taking offense is a personal choice made by the "offended", and in this case it appears to derive from a fear that their god can't stand up to scrutiny. Secondly, I've been watching the ads here for patterns, and it appears that the Google ads are driven by the web page content (so complaining about "The God Who Wasn't There" would increase the likelihood of seeing an ad for it, but I've never seen it), and the Amazon ads are driven by cookies on my own machine. (I shopped for new headphones, and I see ads for headphones. What do you see ads for?) Finally, I'd love to have a good rational discussion about religion and such, but this isn't the place for it and people busy taking offense aren't candidates for it. ~~CA in BC. (5/10/07) Dave's response: Some of the amazon.com ads are "tailored" to your interests via "cookies" on your system. But the Google ads aren't. They're supposedly based on the content of DCRTV's pages..... File this in the "odd" column: At about 6:40 AM, I was flipping through the locals (over antenna, if it matters), and I saw something that got me to flip between channels 7 and 9 to make sure of what was happening. They were airing the exact same commercial (some Mother's Day promo featuring Krystal Koons or whatever her name is) at the exact (and I mean exact) same time! After that, both stations showed a local news-related promo, which added to the oddity. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (5/10/07) "At around 10 AM Wednesday, the transmitter for Clear Channel country outlet WMZQ caught fire and caused the 98.7 signal to go silent..." You'd think that there would be at least one Mailbagger to point this out when this went down. Not one email for 5/9 re: WMZQ. If a tree burns in the forest... (5/10/07) The FCC records show three (3) licensed backup transmitters for WMZQ, only one of them at the main site. The problem at the main site was probably that the electrical power transfer switch was damaged in the fire. Certainly the transmitter wasn't involved in the fire. (5/10/07) Re: WHAN power increase. Part of the increase, which has been in the works for years, is to move the transmitter a LONG way SW from Richmond. There must be 50 or 75 miles leeway from having an overlap with WMAL 630, not a problem. And for the technical "experts" here on DCRTV - that thing in the WMZQ photos is a backup AC generator, not a transmitter. (5/10/07) re: "And the rest of the station, with the exception of O&A in middays, is pretty much unlistenable" This morning i got a 30 minute preview of what the D.C. audience will hear from today's tape delayed Opie and Anthony Show on WJFK: David Hasselhoff talk; Yoga makes you look gay; Alec Baldwin talk; Jimmy Norton does pilates with his chick; Yoga makes you fart; audio of a "retard" from YouTube; and Larry the Cable Guy in studio...someone please explain to me how this is "edgy" or different from every other morning radio show in the country, aside from the fact that they say so??? (5/10/07) Dave wrote: "DCRTV wonders: Doesn't WMZQ have a backup transmitter that would have prevented the station from being off the air? " From the photos and the story it's clear that the fire was not in the transmitter, it was in the backup electric power generator outside the transmitter building. In the photo you can see the transfer switch/relay at the right end of the enclosure and it looks fire damaged. To restore electric power to the transmitter site the engineers probably had to re-wire the incoming power to bypass the relay completely, not an easy job considering the large, high current cables involved and the need to safely work with the incoming electric service. Bill, WMJS-LP (5/10/07) Dave's response: OK, maybe I should have said - don't they have a backup transmitter SITE? If the power fails at Falls Church, can't MZQ use one of CC's other four area FMer's transmitter facilities to get back on the air? As a very good friend, boss and station owner said to me last week, "They don't have Arbitron diaries & they don't advertise here. No one who affects my ratings or bottom line writes into the mailbag and for the most part it's wannabes, has-beens, armchair PDs and lurkers so I never respond and almost always still get a good laugh out of it every day." That applies here to the newsroom that smells like anchovies, the constant travails of a once great afternoon duo, and yes, even the engineers who are standing around that picture of a burnt out transmitter like it was fresh roadkill. (I'm surprised Dave didn't caption it 'We blow'd it up real good! nyuk nyuk') So support yer 'bag and remember in the end you're just entertainment for those of us who have real jobs with too much time on our hands during lunch hour. Happy ten years of mailbaggin' Dave. - RMS (5/10/07) From the FCC... Richmond gets a 50,000 watt AM station daytime at least in WHAN AM 650. Should be a monster signal heard in some of the Virginia Washington DC suburbs to Norfolk if and when it's up and running. And I guess that kills any possible hope of any kind of WMAL 630 ever upgrading to 50,000 watts. Oh well, 10k ain't too shabby at old AM630.......................... Also, Bonneville files yet another ammendment/correction to it's app to change WTWP 107.7 from Warrenton to Manassas. You would think they would get their tower coordinates right on at least the 2nd try if not the first wouldn't you? (5/10/07) RE: Video - Rick Dempsey says he'll violate Gibbons - baseball, baltimore, orioles, jay, dempsey - Dailymotion..//// This Video tells us two things: First, Baseball is an incredibly boring sport, where the few seconds of action are hidden among lengthy periods where the announcers, and in this case some yenta doing good works for a charity can babble indefinitely. Second, Rick Dempsey who we always thought was strictly a catcher, apparently enjoys a little pitching too. (5/10/07) the 98.7 transmitter generator blew up... pictures on www.wmzq.com -andrew (5/10/07) I'm with Cris in Rockville. It IS schtick. And... I like the idea of The Roto-Rooter Microphones. LOL. (5/10/07) Why at this point in the ole ballgame, would Don and especially Mike want to move to mornings? Geronimo has repeatedly said he was already gone once this contract ends and morning duty would cut seriously into Mike's "When You Say Bud!" time. Maybe 20 year's ago Mike could have handled rolling in early morn after an all nite bender but none of us are as young as we use to be except the self righteous cris in rockville. Does the airtight no cut contract the radio gods have allows for them to be forced to move to another shift?Then again, I guess Mike doesn't want to rock the boat if he wants to keep his options open post radio gods demise........Do you think the plan all along was for The Globe to morph into the same playlist territory as DC 101? Was DC101 considered a good target for another station to take on? Do the Rolling Stones get the royalty cash each time "Bittersweet Symphony" is played? If this was plan all along do you think they might be canning the old d.j.'s to bring in younger and cheaper d.j.'s? And I guess this is radio now saying that "Baby Boomers" are now out of their money demographic?.......... And my Mama's Day suggestion for Rusty Gibson is The Intruders " I'll Always Love My Mama" I got an extended version that has the Intruders pretending to be on street corner talking bad about their Pop's and then praise their Mama. Was this song written by the father's of the Philly Sound the late's Gamble $ Huff or they did arrangement on it? Another one for Mother's Day might be "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" by the Carter Family. But maybe that one's too sad. And of course, for Father's Day the classic by Washington, D.C.'s own Winstons, "Color Him Father".... and a suggestion for WTOP, why not get a sponsor for your commercial breaks, it's always about the money ain't it ?...... .btws DCRTV Dave being half beaner meself I believe the politically correct phrase these days is "Latino" not Hispanic, which is considered derogatory, you gringo estupidoh (5/10/07) Geez, I haven't read so much self-righteous caterwauling in my life, as I have over this whole business about Ledo Pizza purchasing the "naming rights" to the "glass enclosed nerve center" at WTOP. And yet, it wasn't so long ago that this same mailbag "lit up" when they dared to call their studio "the glass enclosed nerve center". "AHHHH", the nervous nellies would say, "oh, there goes journalistic integrity, they've sold out, the news isn't what it used to be! Its the end of the world!!!!" You know what? It wasn't the end of the world. That little bit of "radio theater of the mind" caught on with listeners, who actually enjoyed hearing a radio studio called something other than a "studio". Someone said it then, and I'll say it now: they're just funnin' you people a little, that's all, no harm, no foul. Its just a little bit of show biz, a little razzmatazz. And hey...it got you RUBES to talk about it here, so they must be doing something right! Its not as if its in the middle of their news reports or anything; they were already using that little "opener" after the network news to promote the station's ratings whenever they did well, so how is this any worse/different? The news content of WTOP is still as solid as ever, and they're possibly the only radio station that has been able to successfully turn itself into a "must hear" utility in this town. I'd conclude by telling all you self-righteous chest-beaters to "get over yourselves". Save your hot-air about "ethics" for a real discussion about the inflammatory anti-immigration reform rhetoric that spews from 630 AM, that's likely to drive some wacko to do something really tragic one day. On another topic, its good to see Ken Merson doing well. In my previous life doing radio promotion/programming in this area, I'd often run into Ken Merson at radio remotes and other events, and always found him to be the consummate pro. He was always a gentleman, and kind to the "lady in the short skirt and heels" (he'd say this in his best Groucho Marx imitation, wagging the cigar), as he used to call me, even to someone from a competing radio station. Too bad there aren't more radio people like him, or more companies like Entercom that understand the value of a talented individual like him (and a thumb of the nose to the CBS-Baltimore people for cutting him loose the way they did). [stepping gingerly off her soapbox in her Jimmy Choo pumps], - You Can Call Me 'Legs' (5/10/07) /\ May 10 Messages /\ \/ May 9 Messages \/ FCC Transfer of control app for WDCW channel 50, Tribune's Washington CW station to... oh geez, it's way too complicated to even read through, I bet the lawyers made a bundle on this one! :-) (5/9/07) ESPN1300 audio stream update: I brought up the audio player at a little after five thirty P.M...and for some reason, it worked this time! Go figure..computers! I sometimes think they have a mind of their own! Tom in Denton, MD (5/9/07) Video - Rick Dempsey says he'll violate Gibbons - baseball, baltimore, orioles, jay, dempsey - Dailymotion Share Your Videos www.dailymotion.com (5/9/07) what a bunch of sanctimonious idiots you folks are... "WTOP sold out... WTOP's integrity is lost... blah, blah, blah." WAKE UP! It's commercial radio. The glass-enclosed nerve center is schtick! WTOP sold something that doesn't exist!? Pure genius... I love it. Does anyone really believe Ledo will get favorable coverage in the news? That WTOP will be doing more pizza stories? Those that can, do. Those that cannot teach... or, in this case, slam WTOP on DCRTV.com... Cris in Rockville (5/9/07) I personally find "THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE" [Google] advertisement on DCRTV a bit offensive. I found the linked trailer I watched neither "provocative" or "irreverent" as the LA Times and Newsweek (respectively) claimed it was supposed to be. Now you know why companies like Tribune/The Baltimore Sun & The Post are going down the drain and losing subscribers/money. They just don't "get it". Sure, it's ok to attack Bush. Even conservatives don't care about him anymore now that Rudy's #1. But God? Don't they have more important things to report about in a wreckless way? They should have the Tribune heirs & grandkids in the newsroom take out the garbage on time (and take The Baltimore Sun with them) instead of writing this child-like dribble of a review that makes Michael Moore look conservative! (5/9/07) Dave's response: DCRTV does not have direct control over the ads we get "fed" via Google's Adsense program. I have, on numerous occasions, contacted the ad folks at Google and wondered why DCRTV, a media-oriented website, gets "fed" ads with religious overtones. For a while those kind of ads stopped. And now they're back. Go figure..... RE: [ " has anyone checked out Baltimore's ESPN1300's audio stream lately? " ]...... More people probably read that at DCRTV than actually listen to the station! DOH! (5/9/07) RE: [ " Both 105.7 (WHFS) and 1300 (WJFK) need new calls. Those are DC radio calls! Baltimore radio stations need to get their own identities and to stop "sponging off" DC stations. Sheesh... " ]........ Don't you realize what they're doing Dave? They're just warehousing call letters they don't want to lose in lowly Baltimore until they can find a bigger market for them that will generate more money in DC or elsewhere. I guess the CBS suits think Baltimore is such a dumbass podunk town that people won't notice, but judging from both of THOSE stations' ratings, evidently Baltimore is just slightly smarter than the average rock. Now if only the advertisers would wise up and dump these stations that nobody listens to. But, when you're a virtual monopoly, who gives a rats ass? They do whatever the F they please. Where else can the advertisers go? All they can do is take it from both ends at the same time from CC and CBS. Geez, Microsoft almost now has more competition! Grrrrrrrrr :-( (5/9/07) RE: “I couldn't be happier for the Merson Person. One of the greats! What a treat it must be for Memphis and Madison. And who made that call at CBS B-More? Geeesh! RD (5/9/07)” It took three geniuses to come up with that bone-headed programming move: CBS Radio Baltimore Market Manager Robert Philips ordered it while CBS Radio Baltimore Vice-President of Programming Dave Labrozzi did Philips' dirty work. But the actual decision based on the advice of WLIF Consultant Gary Berkowitz who convinced Philips & Labrozzi that Mr. Merson had “outlived his professional usefulness”. (5/9/07) Check out my station “Dean’s Anti-Corporate Radio” at www.pandora.com... My mix just went from Willie Dixon to Elmore James to Joe Louis Walker to Hubert Sumlin and on an on… I have alt, alt country, Americana, Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Prog Metal, Prog Rock, Jam Bands, Country, Blues, Oldies, Texas Music, Reggae, Ragga, Jazz, and everything else from Mellow to heavy… Buffett to Bullet For My Valentine… Amon Amarth to Zebrahead. Black 47 to Lacuna Coil, John Mayer to John Hiatt… You get the idea. This site along with www.last.fm are both awesome music sites! You can create your own station as well. As FM radio has gotten so weak thanks to Clear Channel and CBS, thankfully we have Satellite, Internet, and HD... (5/9/07) I couldn't be happier for the Merson Person. One of the greats! What a treat it must be for Memphis and Madison. And who made that call at CBS B-More? Geeesh! RD (5/9/07) What exactly is the difference between “peering into the Pizza/Window studio and Dave selling space to The Contractor.com infomercial Saturday morning on Danny-boys stations? Isn’t money, money. (5/9/07) I heard the Junkies say again yesterday how they missed the evening shift. Could Don & Mike's business trip be about a possible move back to morning drive?? Maybe even for national syndication??? (5/9/07) Dave's response: One thing's for sure, WJFK-FM's gotta shake things up. Both drivetimes are in need of a ratings jolt. And the rest of the station, with the exception of O&A in middays, is pretty much unlistenable. I still think CBS would be smart to flip 106.7 to sports talk with a return of the Redskins. And possibly the Nationals next season. A good-signalled FM sports talker in DC would kill off both Triple X and SportsTalk 980. It's a damn shame that Bonneville didn't do it on 104.1. I think Jim Farley wanted to but SLC didn't. OK, how about this - Redskins owner Dan Snyder's Triple X moves to 106.7, co-operated with CBS. In exchange, CBS gets Snyder's 94.3, 92.7, and 730. It could then use 94.3 to relay El Zol deep into Virginia. There are a lot of Hispanic folks in Fairfax and Prince William counties. 730 could be turned into a talker with old farts like Bill O'Reilly. And 92.7 could relay 1580's gospel format, to better compete with Radio One's new Praise 104.1..... This may not be a very popular station on this board (mailbag)..but has anyone checked out Baltimore's ESPN1300's audio stream lately? And if so, are you hearing anything? I'm not; the player comes up..and that little commercial plays...but no stream! It's been this way on my end for about a week now; am just trying to find out if the problem is on my end..or if the stream isn't working. Tom in Denton. MD. (5/9/07) Not only is the Merson Person doing AC at Memphis' Snap 94, he is also in his natural habitat - oldies - as he simultaneously hosts the midday shift at Madison, Wisconsin's WOLX, another Entercom outlet. It streams at www.wolx.com. Both shows, of course, come from his humble Maryland home. He just has to keep it straight in his mind whether he's talking about Beale Street or State Street, and the Grizzlies or the Badgers. To paraphrase an old Contours song, First I Listen to the Merse. (5/9/07) Rick Dempsey is just a big dum jock, with no brain. (5/9/07) Does anyone know if Ken Merson has actually relocated to Memphis? Or is he doing the show from Baltimore, either VT’ed or live? Roddy Freeman (5/9/07) Dave's response: No, a previous poster says Merson remains in the Land Of Pleasant Living - Maryland. Thanks to the miracle of voicetracking..... (I think it's good that WTOP sold the naming rights to their nerves (or whatever). Judging from the messages here, there's a LOT of people who don't realize just how much of the "news" is already bought and paid for by various companies and interests. With WTOP getting just a tad more blatant about it, it seems to be waking up some people. And that's a good thing.) Good point made in the post, but what would Ledo Pizza's "agenda" be? The cost of mozzarella is too high? (5/9/07) Dave's response: Maybe we'll get a Neal Augenstein investigation of Pizza Hut..... Really like 947 the Globe, I guess for corporate radio it's as good as it gets. Enjoy most of the jocks...Weasel, Cerphe, Albie Dee, Mike Franciotti.....It's Schelby I could do without. Could she air anymore callers who tell her how great her and her show is? I guess the only thing bigger than her ego is her girth! (5/9/07) Dave's response: I like Schelby, but I can't stand the way she says "the Glueeeebe." You know, there is an FCC requirement that all rock and classic rock stations must have a "gal" doing middays. And if Schelby were to go, I hear Michael Hughes will put "Ms. Dee" in middays (Albie Dee in drag)..... I laughed out loud when I first heard the Ledo Pizza Glass Enclosed Nerve Center plug. That is ridiculous and far, far below what I expect of the areas major news station. I am not a news insider, like many of you are. I am just a listener. Possibly more damning: I could swear I heard a news story a couple of weeks ago that was a paid advertisement. It was for some product and they described who made it, and what it did. They did this as a news story in the middle of other news stories. It caught my attention because there was nothing about that product that was newsworthy. It seemed so odd and out of place, I wondered at the time if it was a paid ad. Now that I see the Ledo’s thing, I believe it may have been. I wish I could remember exactly what product it was. Dave, you should investigate that. Selling rights to Ledo is one thing. But if they are running fake news stories to boost ad revenue - that would be absolutely shameful. And I think it would be a big news story in its own right if they were doing that. (5/9/07) Dave's response: I heard it this afternoon. WTOP's news headlines at 3 PM - "More bombings in Iraq, the president visits tornado victims in Kansas, and Ledo is judged to have the best-tasting pizza in the DC area"..... A few months back I received a phone call to be registered to win $10,000 on WTOP if my name was called. This is the mighty TOP? A generic "top" 40 promotion? Revenue must be so far off projection hence the Ledo Pizza. I'm sure Farley needs some Rolaids. (5/9/07) Love your report on WTOP/Ledo! Abbondazza! www.extrememortman.com (5/9/07) Dave's response: Howard, love your site, too. Although I often end up at a dead end by mistyping that "emem" bit..... Random thoughts: I heard on the radio yesterday about "Ledo Pizza Glass enclosed," isn't glass enclosed in pizza dangerous for human consumption? O&A ratings in the toilet, who woulda thunk it? Oh yeah, just about everyone here on DCRTV. CBS will probably hire new writers for the show, but O&A do not read well, so it most likely will not improve the situation. By the way, it isn't all bad; O&A are number one in the Trenton, NJ book. Perhaps they will go to Trenton if this CBS thing doesn't work out. Mark Levin is still presents himself as an extremist idiot. Upon entering Fort Dix my car was searched by armed guards and powder sniffing dogs. for six guys to plan an attack on a coastal state military installation and ammunition depot must be about the dumbest thing I ever heard. I am seeing something similar to the "Let's Rob Mick Jagger " crew. If this is an an example of the product of the enemy's brain trust, I feel safer already. This morning Fred and Andy threw out the question "Should we allow concealed weapons (guns) on college campuses?" (isn't it "campi" because the word Campus is Latin?). Questions like that one really don't need to be asked. I have read in the newspapers stupid-style binge drinking is rampant on college campi. Throw in guns in the mix? As Buzz would say, "what could possibly go wrong?" Today I am getting Comcast triple play, any recommendations or warnings? Why was my beloved Judge Judy taken out of the 7:30 PM slot on My 20? I enjoyed watching Judge Judy with its Easterns' Motors and Cashpoint commercials while I got the kids ready for their bath. Rockville's Hometown Holidays welcomes KC & The Sunshine Band. Will Jack Diamond open up for KC? Memo to Mountain Stage; maybe if you announced a guest line up for Wolf Trap you could sell some tickets. I am getting a headache. (5/9/07) What do HFS and George Bush have in common? Neither one knows when to say OOOPPPPSSS I screwed up. Sorry. I will fix this. HFS give the call letters to DC so that some station with alternate rock roots can use it. Then take up call letters that better suit your style. Hey…See if WCBM still has their call letters. They also had programming that consisted of hours of humorless talk that would only be considered entertaining by aged baseball team owners. Please, by all that is holy, fix the programming. Elkridge Steve (5/9/07) Dave's response: Both 105.7 (WHFS) and 1300 (WJFK) need new calls. Those are DC radio calls! Baltimore radio stations need to get their own identities and to stop "sponging off" DC stations. Sheesh..... While I was not there fort the 12 minute Cranberries concert - I do remember hearing about it and seeing on the tv news. Fox News had on a park police spokesperson who was none to happy about the whole situation. The news showed video of the Cranberries walking on stage and playing "Linger" I believe. Then all of the sudden bodies go flying through the air and you got moshing on the Mall! For a couple of weeks, the jocks, mostly Bob Waugh, apologized/revised the whole incident. They even were begging for the return of the guitar. They claimed they had video of the culprit and would send it to the local high schools etc and even show it on the big screen if the guitar was not returned. I do not believe the guitar ever made it back. (5/9/07) Someone mentioned a "Greg Valentine" on the air. There used to be a pro wrestler known as "Greg (The Hammer) Valentine". Is that the same guy? Rusty Gibson (5/9/07) Dave's response: I strongly doubt it..... "Commercial radio is just that...it is funded by the sale of commercials. WTOP actively pursues and sells millions of dollars per year with "issue oriented" advertisements which is a far worse "integrity" crime than the Ledo sponsorship." Help me out here...how is that different from a newspaper, TV station, or any other commercial news outlet? Are you attacking WTOP specifically, or the news business in general? WTOP clearly labels all issue ads with "The following is a commercial announcement." Newspapers have been running "issue ads" since the time of Ben Franklin. If you're attacking the "commercial" news business in general, ask yourself this: which has more credibility, a news outlet that sells time or space to advertisers, or a news outlet that is bought and paid for by the government? (5/9/07) Regarding the sellout of the “glass enclosed nerve center.” No long “integrity” diatribes needed. To put it simply, it just sounds so damn tacky. Cheesy. Especially selling to a Pizza Chain. Any sponsoring would have generated some discussion, but Ledo Pizza turns it into a joke. (5/9/07) Dave's response: Credibility has no bearing on ratings and/or revenue. That's the realization in today's "news" biz, particularly among the cable TV "news" nets. Sad but true..... "This whole station sponsorship goes way beyond just one area station. Baltimore's WPOC has sold it's STUDIO. At least once an hour you'll hear jocks broadcasting live from the "93.1 WPOC/Apple Ford studios". It's just so desperate and sad." On Fox Sports Radio, its "Live from the AutoZone Studios of FSR", so even national broadcasts do this. I don't think its that big of a deal personally, its a money maker, radio is around to make money! Keith (5/9/07) Hey Dave-- (might be old news, but I just found out) The Merson person is back. www.snap941.com... Listening to the stream right now, he sounds great! Greg Valentine is doing mornings there. (5/9/07) Rush has offered to go on Katie Couric's show if she'll let him sing Barak the Magic Negro on the CBS news. Her ratings will definitely go up! (5/9/07) Attention all News Junkies: Please spare us the "protect the integrity" speech when it comes to selling any type of commercial on WTOP. Commercial radio is just that...it is funded by the sale of commercials. WTOP actively pursues and sells millions of dollars per year with "issue oriented" advertisements which is a far worse "integrity" crime than the Ledo sponsorship. The issue ads are masqueraded as news stories in an attempt to influence votes and public opinions. For years news stations all over the country including WTOP would resist these ads due to the nature of the format. Today, despite the disclaimer, they solicit the "issues" and pollute the news airwaves with propaganda. This is a far worse "integrity" problem than the Ledo's sponsorship. Integrity will get you fired in the long run and cost you a hefty bonus. (5/9/07) WTOP - "Lookin' through a glass oven…." J., P., G., & R. (5/9/07) KeninEaston pulls the classic bait and switch. When O&A were crowing about "taking over" morning drive time on "Free FM" they said they looked forward to showing their creativity in a regulated environment, that is to say, they could work "clean" and not resort to the lame antics that got them tossed in the first place. NOW, with ratings in the toilet, affiliates canceling their show (and not even running "best of" or is it "worst of?) while on their 2 week vaction (funny how they have no problem taking long vacations but rip Howard for same) and a whopping 1.9 rating in their home market of NYC (good for 18th place!) they try to cry about all the censorship they are encountering. The fact is that the "Free" FM ratings tell a very clear story. When O&A took over for Roth they got a spike of interest of people checking out what their show sounded like after being off the airwaves for so long. The people listened and the people turned the dial. O&A's ratings have fallen in most (if not all) markets since that initial spike in summer 2006. The bottom line is that people don't like the show. There WAS never a fan base for O&A to come back to, much like there was never a fan base for their transition to XM (ok, 35,000 but still). What O&A have done successfully is get people to think they are bigger and more popular than what the numbers show. Zero point zero in at least one market and under 1 ratings in others is no way to go through life fellas. (5/9/07) I still fail to understand how sponsorship of the studio by Ledo is the most tragic event in history - or at least that is how it is being portrayed by mailbaggers and D&M. Crazy sponsorship plugs, product placements, etc have been around forever - I doubt that a pizza joint will cause a drastic slant on the news...as far as credibility, how many news outlets are truly 100% (or even close) credible - they let you know what they deem necessary and on their terms. Now onto more important topics like that sad state of morning radio in Baltimore.... (5/9/07) RE: Dave, what is the obsession at this site with Tony Kornheiser?......... I'm thinking it has something to do with the scruffy facial hair. Dave has a thing for really bad beards. (5/9/07) Dave's response: Call me racist, but I'm just not into orange people..... I think it's good that WTOP sold the naming rights to their nerves (or whatever). Judging from the messages here, there's a LOT of people who don't realize just how much of the "news" is already bought and paid for by various companies and interests. With WTOP getting just a tad more blatant about it, it seems to be waking up some people. And that's a good thing. (5/9/07) This whole station sponsorship goes way beyond just one area station. Baltimore's WPOC has sold it's STUDIO. At least once an hour you'll hear jocks broadcasting live from the "93.1 WPOC/Apple Ford studios". It's just so desperate and sad. (5/9/07) Dave, regarding your newsblurb yesterday about the Redskins possibly going back to WJFK, if that happens, what about CBS running Spanish coverage of the team on co-owned WLZL? That, alone, could be motivation for Danny to go back to his old radio "home". (5/9/07) Dave, thanks for posting that pic of the old WCBM building on your front page. I used to work there back in the early to mid 90's as a board-op. Brought back some great memories and good times. BTW....maybe WTOP should call their glass enlcosed Ledo Pizza sponsored nerve center "The Oven"! lol (5/9/07) Dave's response: We will have a WCBM memories page up soon, probably tomorrow. At Domino's Pizza DCRTV Plus..... Dear Dave: This email posting is brought to you by IBM Software, makers of Lotus Notes. Didn't you have a listing of AM stations at night? Has that gone to the great transmitter in the sky? Just wondering. Great site! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (5/9/07) Dave's response: Yes, temporarily, at least. It got so out of date that I've yanked it. If someone wants to send me some current info about which distant AMers are easily heard at night in the DC/Baltimore area, I could very easily "reinstate" it..... “From the Ledo Pizza glass enclosed nerve center high atop the Starbucks WTOP building via the Roto-Rooter Microphones over the Viagra transmitter….” (5/9/07) WTOP Sponsorships: "This plane crash coverage brought to you by Delta Airlines. Delta - we haven't had a crash in over six years! Delta - we love to fly and (sometimes) it shows." OR: "This crack deal gone bad story sponsored by the friends of Marion Barry. Bitch set YOU up? When you're smokin' a bowl -- no need to be wary - just call Barry. Barry - getting high, drivin' stoned and stiffing the IRS for over 30 years." (5/9/07) When are you going to announce the naming rights from Wild West Fairfax for the DCRTV mailbag, DCRTV domicile, and DCRTV rants? Maybe you can get some free food from someplace like Einstein Bros. Bagels or Johnny Carabrera's. (5/9/07) Dave's response: Cough up enough dough and it's done! Interesting to note that Rush Limbaugh has been heard doing paid spots for GM on his show - and he just got back from visiting GM's honchos in Detroit last week. And, yesterday, I heard Rush doing a political rant favoring labor and health legislation that would aid GM. He's also been touting the new line of Cadillacs in his banter. So, I guess even he's "for sale"..... Knowing it's rather the 11th hour but I'm conducting a survey for my "Mother's Day" show on Friday. Hey Mailbaggers: What is (was) your Mom's fave tune? Thanx, Rusty Gibson WEBR Radio/Fairfax (5/9/07) Not sure if you heard about this but i heard former JFK guys el heffe and j-dubbs on project 96.1 in atlanta tonight testing for a job (i know they have no one in mornings right now). They said they will be on again tonight at midnight. (5/9/07) When the police select a media spokesperson wouldn't you think that they would find someone that you can understand? Montgomery County has a guy (Barnett, Burnett?) who mumbles and you can't understand a thing he says. (5/9/07) /\ May 9 Messages /\ \/ May 8 Messages \/ (RE: "" "It's me Albie Dee." Filling in on the Globe Tuesday evening. Cool!"") .... Guess what, stud, Albie's been doing weekend work on 94.7 FM (as WARW and now WTGB) for quite some time now. You must not listen to the radio on the weekend. (5/8/07) RE: [ The 105.7s & Orioles ]...... I actually miss 105.7 HFS. It was great driving north from Baltimore and having the signal change from one alternative rock station to almost the very same station all the way to almost New York. Why do they still keep the damn call letters? Makes no sense, just like WFBR being on AM 1590 and AM 1300 being WJFK. (5/8/07) Dave's response: 105.7 - I always liked WXYV. WKTK was cool, too. Or, heck, why not WLPL or WBSB? The WHFS calls belong back in DC..... Hey Dave! Love the "round pizza" icon on the TOP logo. But isn't LEDO pizza square 'Cause they don't cut corners??" Bart (5/8/07) Dave's response: I know. It's just a graphic. Seems to work better with a round pizza..... Thoughts and prayers go to Paul Wagner from Fox 5, who's sister was killed in a car accident in New Jersey two weeks ago. (5/8/07) I am sure Bill Glasser remembers learning one lucky Cranberries' fan walked (or most likely ran) away with an expensive guitar acquired during the stampede at that great 12 minute concert. It wasn't me, though, I was on a business trip in Boston at the time. I still have the video somewhere from channel 5 News talking about it. (5/8/07) WTOP Sponsorships: "This stolen car report brought to you by Lojack. Next time the homes come for you, you'll laugh your ass off....'cause you've got Lojack. Lojack -- keeping shitty little cars like yours from jacked for over 20 years."........"This Metro bus pedestrian fatal smackdown sponsored by Midas. Midas -- if you'd had OUR brakes under the chassis, that old lady wouldn't have been clipped. Next time -- it's the Midas touch." (5/8/07) RE: [ "Ledo Pizza Newsroom" ]..... Well at least they picked pretty decent pizza. Reminds me of an old Simpsons episode...... Chief Wiggam undercover as pizza delivery guy....... "But Chief, what if they don't like pizza?" (Chief Wiggam swaps no-name brand pizza car sign for Dominos). :-) (5/8/07) 2007 ascertainment for all DC area radio/tv stations will take place on Wednesday, May 9th at the National Association of Broadcasters. The 2007 session will include Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ike Leggett of Montgomery County, DC School superintendent Clifford Janey and DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Other groups and leaders come from many communities in the suburbs during the all day session with the broadcasters. The program is organized by the Washington Area Broadcasters Association (WABA). (5/8/07) "It's me Albie Dee." Filling in on the Globe Tuesday evening. Cool! (5/8/07) Dave, what is the obsession at this site with Tony Kornheiser? He is mention two or more times a week. He's not that interesting, as a matter of fact in other radio markets like Bolder Bend, Montana he would be considered a no talent hack, which he is! (5/8/07) The Ledo Pizza/WTOP story is for real??? I thought that it was some kind of belated April Fools' Day joke. It seems that there is no shred of journalistic credibility left anymore that can't be bought or sold for the right price. Say goodnight, Gracie. Everett W. (5/8/07) Speaking of Neal Augenstien, I guarantee we will be listening to him try to cook a Ledo's Pizza on the dashboard of his Yugo at some point during the month of August. Jim Farley loves that kind of "memorable radio"! (5/8/07) Yes, Bill Glasser WAS at WHFS for the abbreviated Cranberries concert at the Washington Monument/ Sylvan theatre. I think anyone who was there will attest to the fact that it was the best 12 minutes of the Cranberries they had ever heard. It was pretty amusing watching the Park Police panic as the masses continued pouring over the hill and they knew that they were un-prepared, despite our estimates. However, I am not aware of the "guitar giveaway" that you speak of. Oh, and while I was at WTOP, I was in fact begging Farley to consider using the phrase "From the Glasser enclosed nerve center..." Bill Scot Glasser, Fox Television, America's Most Wanted (5/8/07) Don and Mike summoned back up to New York on Wednesday, to hang out with new CBS Radio head Dan Mason? Look for a "best of" on Wednesday. Sorry guys, but we're flipping 106.7 to sports talk. It's been fun but, well, you know. - RS (5/8/07) Regarding the Ledo Pizza/WTOP controversy: I don't believe we haven't seen anyone from the WTOP newsroom post what they think about this, at least not signed and on the record. I know that Hank Silverberg, Neal Augenstein, Ira Mellman, etc occasionally will post stuff from "inside the glass nerve center" on what is going on over there. How do the capital "J" Journalists at the station feel about this "sponsorship"? Jim Farley sometimes posts here too. Can you shed a little light on the church/state issue Mr. Farley? (5/8/07) "The Ledo Pizza Newsroom"??? Amazing... Was Farley on vacation when they dreamed this up? (5/8/07) "I like the Ledo nerve center a lot better than the stupid "glass enclosed nerve center." Until that moment, I always thought Richard Day and Mike Moss and all the rest were in a plywood nerve center. By telling it me it's glass enclosed has completely changed the way I received the news while sitting in traffic on I-95" Like you I now envision watching a guy with a big mustache and a floppy white hat tossing dough inside the glass enclosed nerve center from my red and white checked news desk. And Richard and Mike covered from head to toe in flour! (5/8/07) Everyone needs to calm down on this Ledo Pizza-WTOP sponsorship "issue". WTOP sells Banner Power the sponsorship of School Closings and now they have sold this. THAT IS IT! Listen to any other all-news station in the country, it sounds like NASCAR Radio. I worked at WTOP 5 or so years back when they made a concerted effort to remove the annoying sponsorship mentions of EVERYTHING. They did get rid of them...and you know what? It made a BIG difference. The station sounded better, but many people didn't realize what was different. From what I know about the braintrust at WTOP, this is not a trend, but an exception. When WTOP starts sounding like every other all-news station, everyone can start bitching. The fact that you DON'T hear things like this on WTOP is exactly why everyone is talking about it. Think about it...if every sports, traffic, weather, business and news report was sponsored, you would hear 18 sponsorships per hour! However, you don't hear sponsorship of ANY of those "reports". You hear some traffic sponsorships, but those are part of the deal with Metro...just like every other Metro affliate. We can all calm down...but lets hope that WTOP is stopping here! (5/8/07) Lisa Baden had the “girls” locked and loaded this morning. DG in Fall Church (5/8/07) Hey Dave, how about the "Nathan's Q&A Cafe Mailbag"? I bet you could clean up! (5/8/07) Went to Circuit City in toothless Fairfax on Sunday. Looks like the money they saved in firing folks was put into redesigning the stores? Someone who must be a bit color blind picked some gawdawful looking checkerboard pattern for flooring. I also noticed they had drastically cutback on the CD section in lieu of increasing DVD's. I inquired if this was a permanent change and was told Yes! Another nail in coffin of buying music in a store? It looks like Circuit City has decided to live or die by the hand of the flat screen tv. Is Circuit City still headquartered in Richmond? I sense it is not long for the retail world. I had gone to Circuit City to purchase a cheap turntable, yes, I still live in the 20th century, I had seen for sale there a few weeks back. Upon asking for the item I was told the store no longer carried the item even though they had a floor display. I was told the CC in Manassas did still have them in stock. Well seeing this as an opportunity to visit the Roy Rogers, you know the food their actually has flavor unlike the tasteless crap served at most fast fooders, in Manassas Park. I ventured to Manassas on Monday. Fortunately, I left the confines of toothless Fairfax for MP early enough to miss the Hell of traffic on Centreville Road these days. I got to the CC in Manassas only to find they did not have the turntables and their computers showed not carrying them so they couldn't explain why the Fairfax store had shown them having said turntable. I also inquired about the availability of HD radio's which I had heard advertised as being carried by CC on the radio. They did not have any nor did not know if they would get them. I've encountered same thing with regards to HD radio availability at several other stores. I've heard radio commercial by Walmart for HD radio's in their stores but when asking about them I only got a blank stare. I also have heard a radio ad for HD radio at Best Buy, when I asked at BB I was directed to the car stereo section and was told there they did not carry them. I did notice in my drive through Manassas Park that the last of the C.L. Barnes furnture stores had stopped shopping at the Piggly Wiggly and had closed. I remember from my yute the jingle that C.L. Barnes used in it's tv and radio commercials with some fondness. I did enjoy a tasty Double R burger at Roy Rogers but business seems slow and I fear one day I may venture that way and find it cerradoh! I feel like moving to an isolated mountaintop with a good view while waiting out the visit from the Four Horsemun. Ah Rosemary, where does your love grow? (5/8/07) Dave's response: Hey, I still got a few hundred old fashioned vinyl record albums - and a turntable. I miss Tower Records. It was a fun place to browse on a rainy weekend..... SNIP - "I don't think the Ledo Pizza Glass-Enclosed nerve Center is anything but amusing and a little quirky. I cannot see how it harms journalistic integrity -- until Ledo starts a war somewhere or peddles influence to some shadowy figure" SNIP. Clearly this poster has never worked in a newsroom and doesn't understand how credibility and objectivity go hand-in-hand. Sales and News: Church and State. As someone mentioned earlier, this offense goes far beyond a normal sponsorship. When I look at those supporting this "business" decision I wonder if there are really that many apologists for WTOP out there... "Amusing"? Absolutely. Yet if there is this much discussion on DCRTV and this many people think it raises a credibility issue, then Jim Farley should stand up to his bosses and tell them that the money this is generating (Hundreds of Thousands??? A Million dollars?) while surely significant, will have an effect on the credibility and integrity of the news operation. Is it worth it? What will the Sales Manager ask for next??? Do the right thing Jim. (A Friend). (5/8/07) I don't think the Ledo Pizza Glass-Enclosed Nerve Center is anything but amusing and a little quirky. I cannot see how it harms journalistic integrity -- until Ledo starts a war somewhere or peddles influence with megadollars to some shadowy figure. Just please don't ever change the name to the Ronald Wilson Reagan Glass-Enclosed Never Center. THAT would get my dander up. (5/8/07) djmr, I salute you! It's unfortunate that we now live in a society where many, if not most, citizens have no clue about spelling, grammar, syntax, and don't care that they don't know. They also don't know much about US History, and accept whatever they hear on right wing talk shows as fact. They're quick to say that the Constitution guarantees them the right to have guns, yet they have no clue when that document was written and what it meant at the time. Real education no longer carries much respect in the real world. It's very depressing. Like the old blues song says, it's a mean old world. No one seems particularly interested in changing things for the better. (5/8/07) Hey Steve, thanks for the support. I guess CBS will try to ride the Orioles out for all they can get, but the problem is I don't think many people are listening. Even if they could because of the limited signal of 105.7, I think most would choose not to because the people drinking the orange Kool Aid in this town have found something else to do with their time & have dwindled to very small numbers. The problem is CBS got stuck with the wrong sports team in Baltimore, the Ravens draw interest even in the off season & the Orioles can't even get it in season. What a shame, but Angelos doesn't give a sh*t about the team or the fans. CBS doesn't give a sh*t about the radio listeners in town. As far as Kirk & Mark, I heard rumors when they left 98 they got big fat contracts. CBS should cut their losses, they were getting better ratings with the Junkies & not having to pay extra people to get it. They also didn't advertise the Junkies in Baltimore at all & got better ratings. I'm not an expert, but what would make sense would be to switch 105.7 to 102.7 to give the Orioles & Kirk & Mark better reception to the north, put Jack on 105.7, what does he care? Give DC back the HFS calls. I don't know if this will help K&M, as I said their best days are way behind them, but they should try something to get the ratings up. All the money they have spent on talent & advertising hasn't gotten them a return for their morning show. The Mickey, Amelia & Spiegel show is by far better. Keith Mills is better than Gary Stein on sports. It's a no brainer. Hey Dave, Mickey was talking on the radio this morning about the cool website DCRTV, just thought I would let you know. Between 620 - 630. Jeff in Southern York County (5/8/07) Just a couple of thoughts…the major difference is Ledo makes an OK pizza, Thompson Creek, on the other hand, makes sucky windows and I can’t imagine their pizza is much better. With regards to Mr. Limbaugh, the smartest thing he ever did was the way his network is set up. He is marketed by Premiere, but he isn’t in bed with just one group. He can piss off a Clear Channel or an ABC and still have a job. As I stated in an earlier post, no-one cared when they came for Grease, no-one cared when the came for the I-man, who will care when they come for you? If at some point we don’t stop kowtowing to the thought police who is next? Haven’t we all said something on air that if we said today wouldn’t give you the pucker factor? If not you probably never did afternoon drive on a 100 K Blowtorch in New Bern, NC with a joint in one hand and a fifth in the other, don’t get too judgmental, I’m certain I’m not the only guy to play a sucky 45 due to a small package, inside a record sleeve. Before I digress any further, either we as an industry need to stand behind each other and quit being cannibals, or God knows what we wont be able to say next. Shouldn’t we be equal opportunity offenders, or should we just be pussies? G Broadcast Spokesman (5/8/07) Elkridge Steve is absolutely right!!! I am an Orioles fan and always will be, but the way WHFS is handling the games is absolutely absurd and insulting to those of us who are also Don & Mike fans! I too thought that I might catch the end of D&M yesterday and was puzzled by the hours upon hours of post-game analysis of an outright blowout by the Cleveland Indians. Here's a little tidbit HFS...even hardcore Orioles fans won't sit through four hours of post-game analysis! It's bad enough you cut off Don & Mike every night at 6:20 pm. It's bad enough we have to sit through 15 minutes of commercials before you even get to the PRE game show, but to run that much coverage for so many hours after a game that started at 12:30 pm is absolutely stupid! Give the WHFS call letters back to DC and call 105.7 WORI, (or WANG as a double-entendre for "Ang"elos that dick!). Greg in Reisterstown (5/8/07) Was Bill Glasser around for that excellent promotion at WHFS with the free Cranberries two song concert and the guitar give-away? (5/8/07) Dave's response: Yeah, I remember that. They were playing down on The Mall and the Park Police chased them away..... (SNIP)When you sell the naming rights to your studio you have underestimated how offensive that is to the listeners. There not that stupid, they know WTOP will take $ any way the can get it. Shame on WTOP, at least the staffers will get a lot of free square pizzza.(endSNIP) Apparently they are that stupid... at least when it comes to knowing the difference between "there" and "they're." I'll even hazard a guess and say "their" is probably confusing too. For the record: their is a possessive pronoun; there, an adverb meaning "in the specified place"; they're, a contraction of "they are." "They're not that stupid." Possessing functional grammar and spelling is always helpful when making one's point; otherwise you're simply bloviating. Oh, and last time I checked 'pizza" only has two Z's. djmr (5/8/07) FOX45 News aids Baltimore city police in nabbing another violent crime fugitive. 4 to date. foxbaltimore.com (5/8/07) Pax (in reference to cc in oc) refers to Paxson communications or broadcasting or whatever it was called. They owned RADIO stations in Florida in most of the major cities (JAX, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, etc.) before being bought out by CC in the mid to late 1990's. Goodman helped put that group together and ran it for the Paxson's before the buy out - took the golden parachute and went and did other things. He's now putting together close to half billion dollars in bank money to buy the cast offs from CC. An OLD radio guy (both in age and demeanor)who is claming to run the stations as he did the Paxson group. Paxson radio and the Pax TV stuff today are two TOTALLY different operations (although the same PAXSON). Their FLA radio engineering crew used to be called the Florida Mafia - well liked, funded and knowledgeable. (5/8/07) Re: Steve Malzberg to NYC...New York's loss is DC's gain (5/8/07) Dave's resonse: He'll be doing evenings on NYC's WOR, 710 AM, which has a better night signal in the DC metro than most of the DC area's AMers do. So you'll still be able to hear him. However, since his station is not owned by ABC, we won't be hearing him on co-owned WMAL as a substitute for Plante or Core. And that's not a bad thing. You know, I was listening to WBAL radio's Chip Franklin sparring with 98 Rock's Mickey this morning. If WMAL was smart, it would hire Chip and then re-start a local afternoon drive show with Chip at the helm. And then fire the awful Andy Parks and pair Fred Grandy with Bryan Nehman for mornings..... Jeff in York, I could not agree more with your ponderings about WHFS. They will probably stick with KMS for a good long time. KMS matches with what management in Baltimore considers entertaining. Case in point; I tuned in Monday to listen to Don and Mike and found the Orioles game on. OK I thought, I like the O’s and it is the 7th inning already. After the game is over and they finish their post game show I can still catch the end of D&M. The game was a shambles. 10-1. The post game show went on til 5 o’clock and was followed by another post game Orioles show. I had to go pick my daughter up at 9PM that night and they were still doing post game Orioles talk. 9PM. ARE YOU “F”ing KIDDING ME. The game ended at 4 or so and it was a complete embarrassment to any Oriole fan. But HFS thought that 5 hours of whining would be more entertaining than D&M. WHFS Please. It was not even thought provoking. One deep thought I heard from the earlier show was (and I swear) “The key to the Orioles winning is that they have to play better.” WOW. Just how do these guys get paid for such riveting in depth analysis. No Jeff, don’t look to WHFS for any entertainment anytime soon, and with in depth analysis like that don’t look for anything smart either. Hey Ed Norris, shovel of wisdom time. Sadly, Elkridge Steve (5/8/07) DC Sports broadcasting (and arguably Channel 9 news in general) "jumped the shark" when Glenn Brenner died. Glenn was and still is the gold standard. I don't think that anyone can live up to his excellence. That is why everybody who has come after him, on all DC stations, has paled in comparison. Mike in Fairfax, VA (5/8/07) I've been listening to Opie and Anthony for about 2 years now, and in my opinion the show has only gotten better since they moved to a split shift between FM and XM (well, the uncensored version of the show on XM at least). It's a shame the show isn't catching on completly with america, as it shows in the recent books how stagnate their ratings have become. You can tell in the way that they've been talking for the past 2 days (since they've returned from their 2 week vacation) that they're worried about their future on FM. I have to agree totally with their points as to why they havn't been as succesful as they should be: the only way for OnA to shine is for CBS to loosen up their decency policy a bit. People looking for a Howard replacement are looking for the same raunch that bled on the airwaves 10 years ago, and they're definatly not getting it and not tuning in. OnA minus the filth = a show that is so apparently held back it's almost boring. I can't imagine what OnA on FreeFM sounds like and I don't want to. CBS: if you want Howard like ratings you need to give them at least half the freedoms that Howard had. Frrrrrankas !!!! KeninEaston (5/8/07) Ref: CC in OC what or who in the hell is Pax? Some kind of God-Squad or what? Please inform us Dave, thanks (5/8/07) Dave's response: Pax is that Christian righty "family" TV network that is now called Ion which shows mainly infomercials..... I like the Ledo nerve center a lot better than the stupid "glass enclosed nerve center." Until that moment, I always thought Richard Day and Mike Moss and all the rest were in a plywood nerve center. By telling it me it's glass enclosed has completely changed the way I received the news while sitting in traffic on I-95. This goes into the Department of Nothingness. (5/8/07) "Hey WMAL, nice job letting some hack from Sacramento piss all over the students at Virginia Tech by calling them cowards and fairies on your airwaves today. Do you really want Mark Williams telling your target audience that their kids, who those of us around here know put up more of a fight than this hack is willing to admit, are victims waiting to happen?" This isn't the first time that Williams has gone out of his way to stir up controversy here in the DC area. Two years ago, he was one of the substitute hosts WMAL used in the late morning timeslot after Michael Graham was taken off the air for calling Islam a 'terrorist religion'. As I recall, Williams made a big stink about a story regarding a work center in Herndon, VA, relentlessly attacking that town's mayor for helping out immigrants lacking proper documentation. Speaking of Virginia Tech, you can't help noticing the blase, matter of fact manner with which network and cable TV news outlets report stories like 30 people dying in a Baghdad bomb blast, in stark contrast to the week long media obsession with the shooting rampage in Blacksburg three weeks ago. While I understand that such violence is shocking on an American college campus as opposed to par for the course in a war zone in the Middle East, what about the victims? If it was so important for CNN, FOX, NBC, etc. to put the faces of the murdered students and professors on the screen and interview their friends and relatives, why don't they do the same for the US servicemen and women who get killed in Iraq every day? Are their stories somehow deemed less important or worthy of attention on newscasts, talk programs and morning shows? Mike, Fairfax (5/8/07) Dave's response: Amen! The celeb "journalist" whores at Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC spend endless hours every day lecturing us about the mindlessly vapid Rosie, "the" Donald, Paris Hilton, David Hasselhoff, Alec Baldwin, etc., and yet rarely find the time to do anything (!) about the brave young American men and women who are giving their lives for their country in Iraq. Another dozen were killed over the past weekend and the cable nets made no mention of these heroes - at least from what I saw! It's a damn shame! Nice to see I'm not the only one upset about it..... I listened to the WTOP "Ledo" sponsorship this morning and I have to think that Jim Farley and the newsies are not too thrilled about this. This is not a traditional sponsorship. In this case the "glass enclosed nerve center" has actually been renamed as the "Ledo Glass Enclosed Nerve Center". This is much different than the WASH "Thompson Creek Studio" as the only thing WASH and WTOP have in common is the fact they are both radio stations. WTOP is a news source. As such I would have thought they would practice the same standards and other news organizations. Dave makes mention of the old Gulf TV news sponsorships. That was many many years ago. The audience is too sophisicated now and at least some listeners will question WTOP's association with its advertisers vis-a-vis favoritism. I would be very surprised if anyone in the WTOP newsroom thinks this is a good idea...(especially people like Jim Farley who knows this isn't right). This was a mistake. They need to pull back before the train gets any further down the track. Peter (5/8/07) I am more than a little puzzled by the Ledo Pizza/WTOP sponsorship. WTOP and its management have always struck me as having more integrity than this. With all due respect to the poster who said that it's no different than any other sponsorship, look at the big picture. Sponsoring a timecheck or a traffic report is one thing - but sponsoring the NEWSROOM and/or STUDIO indicates to the listener that an advertiser OWNS the "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center". Where do you draw the line? Would they have sold it to General Motors? Haliburton? Just the fact that the NEWSROOM or STUDIO is owned by an advertiser -- and that's what they are saying here -- violates a basic tenet of journalism. What if rodents were found at Ledo...or a competor like Papa John's? A story like that would create at least some ethical questions for newsroom management. Dave's comment about Bonneville squeezing money out of the station rings true. Money talks - but greed is NOT good. WTOP should rethink this one. The credibility of a great radio station shouldn't be called into question because of a relationship with a sponsor, and in this case they are reinforcing that question every hour when they play this sponsorship. -- Kevin (5/8/07) Why are folks ragging on WTOP? So what if WTOP has an advert. tag after every story? Stations using Metro for traffic have that already after every traffic cast. And TV has done so for many years..."This portion of the news brought to you by....". As the costs of providing 'free' terrestrial radio soar through the roof, a station should not be faulted for using every legal means to fund their operations. The secondary benefit is that such creative use of time to meet revenue and advertiser avail goals provides new opportunities for radio to remain responsive to a changing business climate. (5/8/07) "When you sell the naming rights to your studio you have underestimated how offensive that is to the listeners. ... Shame on WTOP, at least the staffers will get a lot of free square pizzza" . I would think it would also be highly offensive to the journalists who work at WTOP. The line is closed to being crossed between entertainment and news. What's next ... the DC madam story being brought to you by an ED treatment? But perhaps actually covering the news is less important than making a buck. Shame on you Bonneville. JT (5/8/07) Dave's response: With WTOP selling the naming rights to its news studio and with WTOP not doing any ad-free "breaking news" coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings last month, I suspect that the station's management is working at all costs to keep the ad dollars flowing in to Bonneville's DC radio cluster. Especially now, with the "loss" of classical WGMS and the continued underperformance of WaPo Radio..... It looks like the company buying the CC Ocean City stations is owned by someone who was/is affiliated with Pax. I would assume Don and Mike might not last on WOSC because of this. (5/8/07) Why all the fuss about WTOP selling another sponsorship? This practice has been going on for over twenty years. TOP sold the time checks to Rolex in the late 80's. Z104 sold it's morning drive to McDonalds. ARW to Croppe Metcalf and on and on...This is commercial radio. XM and Sirius will be next, with some form of commercials on all of their stations. That will be the only way they can survive. (5/8/07) Dave's response: Back as a kid, I recall a Gulf gasoline logo on the NBC network newsdesk..... Re: "Who the hell is Bill Glasser????" Didn't he win the Kemper Open golf tournament a couple times, in '85 and '92? (5/8/07) ("Dave, do you ever think that some posting such as this one...."Whatever happened to Stacey Cohan, who used to be a reporter on Channel 9 in D.C.? I thought that she was kind of hot" are just plants. Maybe from the person of topic themselves?") Not this time. I've known Stacey since her days back at PGCTV-probably ten or twelve years. She's one of the nicest people in the world, with more class and ethics than a lot of people in this business. (5/8/07) When you sell the naming rights to your studio you have underestimated how offensive that is to the listeners. There not that stupid, they know WTOP will take $ any way the can get it. Shame on WTOP, at least the staffers will get a lot of free square pizzza. Not a sermon just a thought. dan (5/8/07) Dave's response: Damn, if only Ledo had round pizzas then WTOP could run print ads with the "O" in "WTOP" as a pizza. Drat..... I was disappointed to see where Montgomery County Comcast cable is moving TCM to a digital tier in a couple of weeks. Is this a way of telling us we better get digital tv or else? I still like my analog and I am thankful that my Cox Communications in Northern Virginia hasn't done the same thing. (5/8/07) Dave's response: You don't need a digital TV to get standard-def digital channels on your cable system. The cable box will handle that for you..... Does anyone feel as I do, that D.C. area sports anchors at 4,5,7 and 9 are the lowest quality that they have EVER been since local stations discovered "sports" early seventies. There is no humor, a la Glenn Brenner, or quality, a' la' George Michael anymore. Steve Buckhantz, (who is stuck doing Bullets...err...Wizards) and Chick Hernandez, off of Comcast Sportsnet, are both better than what every channel has right now. I can't watch local sports anymore. Tim Brandt, is better as a color analyst and "play by play" man, but he is the best among the local stations, and that is not saying much...he is better doing play by play or color. I know that Brett Haber does Channel nine sports (I don't watch him, but I know his name), but I am clueless as to the name of everyone else (especially channel four...what a train wreck that station has become). That is a sad statement, that could not have been made in the early nineties years ago when you had M ichael, Buckhantz, Herzog and Brenner doing sports at the same time. Doug in Stephens City (5/8/07) /\ May 8 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....